York County Sheriff-elect plans to focus on fighting homelessness, fentanyl

YORK COUNTY, S.C. ( QUEEN CITY N EWS) — “I want to serve the county. And I want you to know that if things go sideways that me and everybody at the sheriff’s office is going to stand between you and any kind of evil that wants to hurt you, your kids, or your family. And that, at the end of the day, is all that matters,” said Tony Breeden, York County’s Sheriff-Elect.

It’s only been two years since Breeden has held a badge. He ended retirement early after winning the York County Sheriff’s runoff race against Michael Belk.

Breeden is set to become the county’s third sheriff in 30 years. Bruce Bryant was the first sheriff and Kevin Tolson is the current sheriff. Tolson is Bryant’s son-in-law.

“I’ve been running for sheriff for 30 years, just didn’t know it. And that’s just with community and everybody that knows me and the things that I’ve done, I didn’t try and recreate myself in 55 days. You know what you see with me is what you get,” Breeden said.

Violent and property crimes in the county have steadily decreased over the past two years. Breeden says while he’s working to continue that trend — he wants to focus on fentanyl crimes, tackling homelessness, and making sure sex trafficking numbers remain low in the county.

He also wants to focus on victims and making sure they feel safe again.

The sheriff-elect also wants to keep the trend of hiring and retaining officers. The county hired over 50 new officers in 2022 and 2023.

“It is a calling; it is a profession. I think that if you put your expectations high and professionalism high, I think they’ll want to attain it,” Breeden said.

Over the last 55 days, Breeden was met with questions about his past. He says he’s not affiliated with any political or law enforcement establishment organization.

Breeden posted a screenshot from an account appearing to belong to the current sheriff — Kevin Tolson — claiming Breeden attended the January 6th capitol riots.

“If you do some math – 2021 and I retired in 2022, then where was the issue? Had I done something wrong – do you think that they would have still let me be a police officer and especially work the streets? So, you know, the one thing about it is just because I’m an officer, I don’t forgo my First Amendment rights. And I also have enough common sense to know what right and wrong is,” Breeden said.

One voter says she believes he was the best person for the job.

“I think so. Even if I didn’t vote for him, I do know that he has that and more,” she said. She did not want to be on camera.

Breeden’s swearing-in won’t happen until January. He won’t run against any democratic candidates.

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