Former Orange County Sheriff Division Chief and current Belle Isle Chief of Police John Tegg, formally announced his candidacy Thursday, for the top law enforcement spot in Orange County.
Tegg, who ran unsuccessfully against current Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings in 2008 said, he is running to restore confidence in the agency and to lift the low morale that currently exists among the force.
“The Sheriff’s office is in turmoil and in need of new leadership,” he said in a statement. “The lack of competency has led to federal and state investigations, low morale among the force and a costly lawsuit where valuable resources and even force was used to check barbershop business licenses.”
Tegg served at the Sheriff’s Office for 27 years, working his way up the ranks in almost every area of the Department. Since retiring, he has served as Chief of Police in the Orange County cities of Edgewood and Belle Isle.
Earlier this week, in an exclusive interview with West Orlando News Online, Sheriff Demings said he felt confident about his re-election chances.
“I am confident that I have demonstrated to the public that I am a competent professional, a law enforcement executive,” he said. “And the things that the people have elected me to do, we have done. We have been able to force down crime in the community. The bad news is, we still have some crime that is going on. But, we are certainly being very vigilant and in that process we are being fiscally responsible, at a time when we do need to step it up and take things to the next level.”
On pending ligitation, Demings told WONO he was unable to comment specifically, but did say concerning recent allegations that, “some individuals were motiviated by monetary gain and other things.”
