{"id":8532,"date":"2022-11-03T18:16:45","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T18:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=8532"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:59:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:59:19","slug":"in-race-for-durham-sheriff-jocys-touts-fbi-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2022\/11\/03\/in-race-for-durham-sheriff-jocys-touts-fbi-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"In race for Durham sheriff, Jocys touts FBI experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
Maria Jocys was enjoying a successful career with the FBI when she rejected a promotion offer and asked to move back to Durham. Now, after a 24-year career with the bureau, she is running for sheriff in her hometown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe have too many young people that are becoming influenced by bad actors, people that are members of gangs,\u201d Jocys said. \u201cAnd a lot of that has to do with them becoming desensitized to the violence that occurs in their neighborhoods, it has to do with root causes of crime like poverty, lack of employment opportunities, stable housing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Jocys led the FBI\u2019s Raleigh field office starting in 2007, and left that position in 2016. The Southern High School and East Carolina University graduate says she rejected high-ranking administrative jobs in Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C. Instead, she says she requested an assignment to<\/span>\u00a0the FBI\u2019s Raleigh-Durham Safe Streets Task Force, returning to Durham because she was disturbed to see violence take over the streets where she grew up. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Put me in the room to work,\u2019 because my commitment is to come here and to stop the violence, to <\/span>help the young people that are becoming involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, Jocys has h<\/span>er eyes on the sheriff\u2019s office. Over the last five years working with the task force, she says she saw a lack of partnership, outreach, and proactiveness from current Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an FBI agent, I didn\u2019t have a voice,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt that if I ran for sheriff and attained that position, I could have a lot more direct influence over helping a lot of the communities that are suffering, as well as bringing about real, true reform to the sheriff\u2019s office.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite her law enforcement skills, Jocys is struggling to gain traction with Durham\u2019s political groups. She has yet to receive any endorsements from local political action committees.<\/span><\/p>\n And it is clear Jocys is no politician; at a meet-and-greet event at a supporter\u2019s home in September, she spoke passionately but without the eye contact, confidence, or lofty promises of a seasoned politician. Instead, she responded to questions using examples from her experience with the FBI, seemingly flipping through a mental rolodex of past cases.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don’t see that as an obstacle,\u201d Jocys said of her lack of political experience. \u201cI see it as not being part of the political establishment in Durham. I believe in getting out and knocking on doors, meeting voters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Jocys describes her own politics as \u201cdown the middle, moderate.\u201d She is registered as a Democrat but is running as an unaffiliated candidate in the race for sheriff, which she believes should not be a partisan position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPolitics should not play into the safety and security of our communities,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0A violent crime epidemic has ripped through Durham in recent years. Last year was a <\/span>record-breaking<\/span><\/a> homicide year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Based on her time with the Safe Streets Task Force, Jocys says much of Durham\u2019s gun violence stems from a gang feud that originated with a single murder back in 2017. Since then, several Blood and Crip gangs from in and around Durham have formed and broken alliances and created a seemingly unending cycle of retributive shootings, she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jocys says racketeering cases will be instrumental in eradicating gang activity. She cites her personal experience with such cases, including the 2019 racketeering case stemming from the murder of nine-year-old Z\u2019yon Person. In that instance, Jocys was able to bring one of Durham\u2019s first successful racketeering cases against two members of the Eight Trey Gangster Crips, resulting in life sentences for both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n