This article is an online extra accompanying the piece in our November issue profiling candidates for Richmond sheriff Antionette Irving, Nicole Jackson and Emmett Jafari.
Carol Adams is a write-in candidate for Richmond sheriff. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Former police Sgt. Carol Adams’ decision to enter the race for Richmond sheriff as a write-in candidate just a month before the election might appear sudden to others, but for her, it was a calling that she could no longer ignore.
An employee of the Richmond City Sheriff's Office before she joined the Richmond Police Department 20 years ago, she says that she admired the late Sheriff Andrew Winston and had long dreamed of holding that position. Adams, 54, recalls driving past campaign posters in 2009, when Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. was seeking a second term: "All I could see was me. I've been suppressing this for a long time."
She went on with her work as head of the police department's Community Care Unit, a position tasked with overseeing outreach efforts, and she established the Carol Adams Foundation, which provides housing and other support for domestic violence survivors. But the desire to be sheriff never went away.
Then on Oct. 8, while working security at Providence Park Baptist Church on Richmond's North Side, she noticed that a table usually filled with informational materials only had two items on it. One of those was a booklet featuring a drawing of an African-American woman in a sheriff's uniform, talking with children. The woman in the picture even had on gold hoop earrings like the ones Adams is wearing at the time of our interview. After finishing her work at the church, Adams picked up the booklet and called a friend to share the story: "I said, 'I cannot shake it, and this is what happened this morning.' I said, 'I've got to go with it.' " She announced her write-in campaign on Oct. 11, and she retired from the Richmond Police Department, effective Oct. 13.
Capt. Daniel Minton, who supervised Adams at the police department, says she has “endless drive and a true need to reach out to the community and bridge the gap.” He notes that her work on domestic violence issues got her invited to the White House, among other speaking engagements. “She has an uncanny ability to bring people together for a common cause,” he says. “She has such a diverse background and she knows exactly what people are going through.”
Adams sees her run for sheriff as building on the work she's done as a police sergeant — building relationships with residents, faith communities and other organizations.
"We need to be working to make the community safe, but then also working with the individuals inside the jail so that when they reenter into the community, they have a better fit." Preparing for reentry should start as soon as a person is incarcerated, she says. "I think that should be a collaboration not just with the person inside, but also with the family so that everybody can be prepared … [If] the family's not prepared for them to be home, we're not going to be successful. We're more apt to have recidivism."
Adams shares her personal story as a way of inspiring hope for others whose lives have been marked by crime and violence. The pain caused by her mother's shooting death at the hands of her father is still tangibly present after 37 years. As she tells the story for what must be the thousandth time, Adams' voice breaks a little. But she tells it because she wants people to understand that "it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, life happens and things happen. But that doesn't mean you give up."
The names of three other candidates for sheriff will appear on the ballot: Democratic nominee Antionette V. Irving and independents Nicole D. Jackson and Emmett J. Jafari. Does Adams feel she's at a disadvantage? "Most people think so, I but I don't, because the people that know me have me on their mind whether my name is on the ballot or not," she says. "I think it's awesome that people that go to vote are going to write my name on that ballot. So that means I'm going to be the people's choice."
