Roanoke Sheriff Antonio Hash runs for reelection against challenger James Creasy

Roanoke Sheriff Antonio Hash is running for reelection against challenger James Creasy in November’s election. 

Both Hash, who’s 45 and a Democrat, and Creasy, a 42-year-old Republican, were born and raised in Roanoke. 

The sheriff’s office has four divisions — detention center security, support services, court services and law enforcement. The sheriff’s office maintains security within the Roanoke City Adult Detention Center and the city’s courthouse.

The office currently has about 190 deputies, with about 15 vacancies, Hash said in a recent interview.

Hash cites mental health, education programs

Hash, who is finishing his first term as sheriff, said he learned from his mother that surviving hardship is about getting the tools and resources that are necessary for success, which he is “appreciative of,” he said.

He’s been with the sheriff’s office for 16 years, both as a deputy and a school resource officer, before his successful campaign for sheriff in 2021.

Starting his career with the sheriff’s office in the city jail, Hash said, “You get to be a voice for the residents” in custody.

“It’s an opportunity to try to shine a light on people, because we’ve got to realize when they come to court, they’re citizens who are out in the public eye,” he said. “You have to treat everybody like they’re human beings.”

When he was a school resource officer, short staffing meant each officer was sometimes responsible for two to three schools, he said. He remembers eating lunch with students and said he would always buy extra food to share with the kids. 

He said some of those kids still call him “Deputy Hash” when they run into him, having remembered his name “like hash browns” as Hash used to tell students.

Hash said working in the sheriff’s office has taught him how to listen — “You can always be quick to respond [to] everything, but I’ve learned to be slow to speak, and quick to listen.” From his first term as sheriff, Hash said the office has begun to overcome obstacles in gaining the community’s trust.

In 2022, Hash implemented the R(IGNITE) — Residents Individually Growing Naturally and Intentionally Through Education — program within the adult detention center. It offers educational programs to residents in custody. Hash said officers also help incarcerated individuals apply for jobs and other resources.

One of Hash’s biggest priorities, he said, is addressing mental health — for the community, his residents in custody and his deputies. He said he has helped to create a resource sheet to connect those leaving custody with substance abuse rehabilitation resources within 30-60 days of their release.

“What I found out is mental health has come a long way, but we [have] a ways to go,” he said. He noted that the office is going after grants and additional resources related to mental health services.

He brought on board the Medication Assisted Treatment, or MAT, program, which follows guidelines on how to treat those coming into custody with substance abuse issues.

“So our job is to stabilize you and get you to a place where you can get some help,” Hash said.

He said he strives to “change the narrative” of people coming into custody and that the detention center “should look like fair housing and a fair work place.” He said he had toilets changed throughout the building, as part of an effort to create an environment that’s “conducive for production and success” for his deputies and officers.

“As times change, we [have to] change,” Hash said. “We should never be complacent in the work that we do. As new stuff comes out, new tools, new training, [we are] making sure they have the things that they need.”

Creasy says he seeks to be ‘a sheriff for all people’

On Aug. 4, Creasy retired as a sergeant within the sheriff’s office to focus on his election campaign, he said.

“The sheriff can go out and put his face out there every day, and I felt like I was already at a disadvantage of having to work my assigned job and then only have a few hours every day to go out and meet people,” he said in a recent interview.

Creasy worked in the sheriff’s office for 24 years, he said, after starting at age 18 as a deputy. He decided to run for sheriff because he wants to see a change in the crime and homelessness rates that have “exploded,” he said. 

He said he “really believed” in Hash, but he said he thinks Hash has “really only served one area of Roanoke within those four years,” with that area being Northwest Roanoke, he said,  which faces higher gun violence rates than other quadrants of the city.

“As sheriff, you need to be sheriff to all of Roanoke and not just one part,” he said. 

Hash said in an interview, “I’m a sheriff for all people. If you’re not a sheriff for all people, you’re doing your job for the wrong reasons, because your job is to protect the locality regardless of your political background.”

On June 14, Creasy posted on his Facebook campaign profile that he submitted a formal complaint to the Roanoke city attorney, Tim Spencer, and the Virginia Department of Elections, over what he calls “multiple violations” by Hash “for using government staff, resources, and public platforms to campaign for re-election, all on the taxpayers’ dime.”

The complaint was forwarded to Roanoke Commonwealth Attorney Don Caldwell, who said, “I have reviewed the information but am having a difficult time finding any criminal issues” in a recent interview.

Hash said he hasn’t seen the complaint and maintains that he has followed any relevant campaigning rules.

Creasy said he would like to focus on recruiting officers and equitable pay. He said the starting pay in the sheriff’s office in Roanoke County is almost $10,000 more than in Roanoke.

Starting pay for deputies is about $49,500, Hash said, and is expected to reach $50,000 by the end of the year, he said. That’s about a $10,000 increase from the starting salary of around $40,000 in 2021.

County spokesperson Amy Whittaker said sheriff’s deputies there start at $50,807 after training. 

“We should be on the same playing field, or even higher than our neighbors, because we are a small metropolitan city so we deserve it,” Creasy said.

Creasy said a lot of officers are working overtime, especially on shifts in the Roanoke City Adult Detention Center. He said the problem comes down to the city council.

“They’ve got to believe in us, and when you believe in someone, you [have to] show them with your wallet,” he said. “If we’re already spending the money in overtime, I think we could spend the money [on] better pay which is going to attract better quality candidates, and candidates, period.”

Creasy also said he wants to address what he identified as low morale among officers. He said officers used to be “like best friends” on the shift and would spend time together outside of work.

“But that’s like a dinosaur gone extinct, I just don’t see it,” Creasy said. “I think it has to do with the quality of people that we’re hiring.”

Creasy was a D.A.R.E. program officer for 10 years, working with fifth graders. He said he built strong relationships with the kids he taught.

“When you create the relationship, kids will warm up to you and they’ll share things with you that they may not have if they didn’t have that relationship with you.”

If elected, Creasy said he hopes to further integrate the sheriff’s office into the community in order to build that same trust he experienced as a D.A.R.E. officer. He said he wants the deputies to visit every house in all four quadrants of the city — “I don’t care how long it takes.”

“I want to create a relationship for when somebody knows there’s maybe a potential crime that’s going to happen, they can call us ahead of time,” Creasy said.