ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Sheriff Rob Hardwick celebrated a landslide victory in his bid for re-election Tuesday with 73% of the vote.
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The Sheriff received a larger percentage of the vote than he did four years ago when he got an overwhelming 70%. During his victory speech, he credited his staff.
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“You deserve better than 73%— I’ll be honest. You deserve 90% of St. Johns county support,” he said to his supporters.
Despite a booming population in St. Johns County, Hardwick told Action News Jax there has been a decrease in violent crime by 10% during his four-year term. He said he plans on increasing his staff of more than 1,000 by another 25 staffers in October. During his speech, he also said he plans to improve resources.
He told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant he has plans of integrating technology into policing to combat the growing population as well and keep crime numbers low.
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“That’s why everybody is coming here. They want to come here because they’re pulling those crime stats and they’re seeing what the men and women of St. Johns county are doing,” he said.
Former St. Johns deputy Jim Priester, who worked at SJSO for nearly 30 years sent this statement:
“I would just like to thank everyone who supported me along the way in this endeavor. While we were not successful in what we set out to do, I still feel it’s incredibly important to hold our elected officials accountable. If I was able to inspire even a single change in the way the sheriff’s office conducts business, I consider that a success. Thank you to the people of St. Johns County for letting me serve you for the last 27 years, and if you need me for any reason, I’m just a phone call away.”
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Priester said he ran a campaign on transparency and planned to boost morale of employees, which he claimed hit a low point.
“We need a leader at the St. John’s sheriff’s office. I’m going to provide that. Leadership demands sacrifice,” he said during an interview earlier in the day Tuesday.
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