There's A New Sheriff in Town...

And his name is Duane Piper.  In a runoff election, Piper beat the incumbent Sheriff Paxton by a vote of 51% to 49%. 


Taken from his website,http://www.piperforsheriff.com:

Duane is a former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division and a veteran law enforcement professional who has spent the last 25 years protecting the public from criminals.

After a highly successful early career in Banks and Glynn counties and the Roswell police department, he joined the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office in 1995 and quickly ascended through the ranks. After just one year on the job, he was promoted to watch commander, then sergeant and, in 2002, earned the rank of lieutenant.

During his law enforcement career, Duane completed more than 2,500 hours of continuing law enforcement training, including all three levels of supervision training and management training offered by Ga. P.O.S.T. council.

He possesses an unusually broad range of experience in the law enforcement profession having been trained, worked, supervised and managed in nearly every area, including uniform patrol, criminal investigations ranging from theft to homicide, narcotics, internal affairs, crime prevention, detention and Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.).

Duane and his wife Cindy have been married for 27 years and they have two sons, a wonderful daughter-in-law and two beautiful granddaughters. Their oldest son is a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Their youngest is a full time college student and former soldier in the U.S. Army.

He retired from the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office last month in order to campaign full time for Sheriff.