C.J. Gish
When Emery Gainey was sworn into office as the Alachua County sheriff on Oct. 1, he was returning to where his career started in 1982.
The longtime law enforcement officer inherits a department that faced turbulence in recent years under recently departed Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson Jr.
Watson faced criticism over the last two years for how he handled an internal affairs investigation against three Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) employees and in his negotiations with the North Central Florida Police Benevolent Association over a contract with ACSO deputies, which was finally approved in July 2022.
In June, Watson announced that he would not seek re-election in 2024. On July 31, Watson sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a letter saying he would step down from his position due to health reasons.
Gainey, who was born and raised in Gainesville, joined the ACSO and worked his way up the ladder over 25 years. The 64-year-old rose to the position of chief deputy and retired from the ACSO in 2007.
From there, Gainey joined the Attorney General’s Office and served as the Director of Law Enforcement and Victim Services, where he remained until he was appointed as the interim Marion County Sheriff in 2016. Gainey would return to the Attorney General’s Office before retiring in 2020.
On Sept. 7, DeSantis appointed Gainey as the new Alachua County sheriff, a post he will fill until the 2024 election.
Below are excerpts from a recent interview—edited for length and clarity—with Gainey following his first week officially on the job.
Q. How was your first official week on the job after being sworn in?
Gainey: I actually came in back on Sept. 10. After the announcement was made that I was coming in, the Chief Deputy [Joel DeCoursey Jr.] retired the next day. And you know, he [Watson] had some other issues here, so he graciously asked me if I could come in and take it for him on his behalf for the last three weeks, and I did. So it was official Monday, Oct. 2, but I’ve actually been here working for almost a month now.
Q. Was DeCoursey’s retirement expected?
Gainey: I was not made aware of it. He called me to congratulate me but didn’t mention his plans the next day to step aside.
Q. What have you been involved in since you retired in 2020?
Gainey: I’ve been doing some consulting and served on a couple of boards. Late in 2021, Gov. DeSantis appointed me to the district board of trustees at Santa Fe College. But perhaps the most cherished of those is the Special Olympics of Florida. I’ve been in that group since 2008 and spent the last two years as the chair.
Q. How do you plan to move past the controversies and turn the culture around at the ACSO?
Gainey: I spent 25 years here. My first job was as a deputy, and I was fortunate enough to rise up the ranks to chief deputy when I left, so the No. 2 in charge. There are still a lot of folks here who were here when I was. I think they know what type of person I am and my character. So because of that, and my jobs around the state, I think a lot of that was resolved by merely accepting the position and walking in here.
The first day I was here I spent about three-quarters of that day walking around to individual offices, introducing myself, shaking hands and talking to people, letting them know I’m here, I’m approachable and personable.
I’m assuring them that this is a new day, a new philosophy, and I honor them in their service every day. I have a great grasp on what an administrator should be doing to support those people who have boots on the ground.
Q. You have quite a staffing shortage. What are you doing to fill those positions?
Gainey: We have 248 open positions across the entire agency. The jail, for instance, is allocated 354 full-time employees, and they are down 119, so about one-third of their entire staff.
A couple things we’ve been doing is going to employees who have left in the last couple of years. I’ve asked those employees’ friends to call them and invite them back. I’ve called some of them myself. We are up to 21 individuals who are coming back to the agency, and we’re still making those calls.
The great thing about those people is that they are already certified law enforcement correction officers, so they can hit the ground running immediately.
The other side of that, of course, is recruits. Every place I go, every opportunity I get to talk to someone, we talk about the need for employees and encouraging family and friends who think they’d be qualified to talk to someone about coming to the organization.
Recruits take a little longer because we have to put them into the basic recruit schools, they have to pass those schools and take the state exam. Even if I could fill every single position tomorrow with recruits, it’d be about nine months before they’re useful to go out and work on their own. We can do that, but we recognize they can’t all be new recruits, and we’ve got to continue to try and find certified folks.
Q. One of the topics in the forefront in both Alachua County and the Gainesville area is gun violence. How can the ACSO help stem the tide?
Gainey: I’ve met with the Gainesville Chief of Police Lonnie Scott, and we’re having a meeting where all the chiefs in Alachua County are going to get together and talk about needs and how we can help each other.
That’s first, to get fully up to speed on what’s been going on already in terms of trying to combat this and see how we can further that together.
When it comes to any kind of gun violence and other crimes, bad guys don’t particularly respect jurisdictions. They move about. So it behooves all of us as law enforcement in Alachua County to work together on these initiatives and, not just here, but in our surrounding counties, because folks move back and forth in those jurisdictions as well.
Q. Going forward, what are your priorities?Â
Gainey: First and foremost, the staffing. Any goal right now is on hold because we simply don’t have adequate staffing to do some of those innovative things.
Obviously, the gun violence we are seeing in this county, that’s got to be addressed. School resource officers are critical as we try to interact with the young people and keep them from getting involved in criminal issues that would affect their lives.
Domestic violence is very prevalent, and we have to make sure we are involved there with mental health. All over the country, we’re seeing more issues of mental health involving law enforcement.
We’re a college community, so we want to look at the uniqueness that comes with that, work with our presidents of our colleges and the university police departments.
Q. What made you decide to run for reelection next year?
Gainey: The realization that there’s 15 months left on this term and the realization that we cannot turn this office around in 15 months. It’s going to take a long effort. I believe the men and women here deserve it; I believe the citizens of Alachua County deserve it.
I have relationships with law enforcement at the state, local and federal levels, so I believe that that particular experience and my character traits will give me the best opportunity to move this agency forward as quickly as possible.