New Guilford County Sheriff-elect Danny Rogers has selected Steve Parr, a Republican who ran against Sheriff BJ Barnes in the 2018 Republican sheriff’s primary, to be one of his top right hand men in the new Sheriff’s Department.
Parr, who’s been an outspoken critic of Barnes and his administration, pulled in just 12 percent of the vote in the Republican primary to Barnes’ 88 percent earlier this year – however, now Parr will be the colonel of the department and he will oversee a vast swath of the county’s law enforcement operations.
Sources in Guilford County government say Parr has passed the requisite human resources checks and he’s expected to be sworn in with Rogers at a Monday, Dec. 3 ceremony in the Guilford County Court House in High Point.
Parr, who was born in Pinehurst and raised in Guilford County, graduated from Elon University in 1984. He earned his Master’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati in 2007. Parr has served with the NC Highway Patrol, the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department. In that department, which he’ll now help Rogers lead, he reached the rank of sergeant before retiring and running for sheriff.
Like Rogers, Parr has been calling for radical change in the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department. In a campaign video, Parr said of the department, “What we have in Guilford County is nothing short of a train wreck.”
He cited issues of poor morale, said the county needed more officers on the street and blasted Barnes for being fiscally irresponsible.
Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes said he isn’t surprised Rogers has selected Parr since, Barnes said, Parr began working with Rogers as soon as the Republican primary was decided.
Parr endorsed Rogers over Barnes in the election.
All of those experienced officers that Danny Rogers fired will be running against him in the next election. Rogers will be dismissed before the end of his term. (remember Sherrif Proffit?)