Guilford County changed shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3 when Danny Rogers was sworn in as Sheriff of Guilford County.

Sheriff Rogers is the first black sheriff of Guilford County and the first new sheriff since former sheriff BJ Barnes defeated then incumbent sheriff Sticky Burch in 1994.

Rogers was sworn in by retired Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court Henry Frye in front of a standing room only crowd in the Guilford County Court House – High Point. Since Greensboro is the county seat and the other county officials who were elected in November took their oaths of office in the Old Guilford County Court House in Greensboro, even in his first moments in office Rogers was sending a message that there are going to be changes in the way things are done. In fact, Rogers before he took the oath of office sent that message loud and clear by firing close to 30 sheriff’s department employees including some of the highest ranking officers.

Rogers served as detention officer and a deputy sheriff and when he made a statement on the courthouse steps after taking office he said that detention officers who are not sworn and deputies who are sworn would be treated the same in his department. He said, “We’re all going to do it as a family, as a team.”

He said, “It’s not about me. It’s about us.”

Rogers also made a point to thank Barnes for his services to the community as sheriff and to the country as a Marine.

Rogers said, “Everybody understands we will be a sheriff’s office for everybody of Guilford County.” And he added, “We will do what we need to do to assure the safety of our county.”

Rogers said that he would continue to evaluate the sheriff’s office as he had been doing and that he realized it was important for the sheriff’s office to run as smoothly as possible during his first months in office.

When asked about the biggest change coming to the sheriff’s department, Rogers said, “The biggest change – I think you’ve seen it already. The biggest change is that Danny Rogers is sheriff.”

Another change that Rogers spoke about was the fact that he planned to have an office in High Point and spend as much time in High Point as in Greensboro. He also said that he wanted the staff of the sheriff’s department to look like the population of Guilford County, but he said he would not be focused on race.

After Rogers was sworn in, Guilford County Chief District Court Judge Tom Jarrell spoke briefly saying that he had known Rogers for 40 years and that one thing he knew about Rogers was that he was a people person who truly cared about people which is why he wanted to be sheriff.