Former Richmond County Sheriff James Beck dies at 76

<p>Former Richmond County Sheriff James G. Beck has died from injuries received in a car wreck last month.</p><p>Beck died Tuesday at Medical College of Georgia from brain injures and skull fractures, Richmond County Deputy Coroner Charlena Graham said. He was 76.</p><p>Beck, who had also served as Augusta's police chief, had been in critical condition in the hospital's shock trauma unit since May 12, when his truck flipped over in a three-vehicle accident.</p><p>Beck was elected sheriff from 1977 to 1980. He was police chief from 1970 to 1976.</p><p>Beck was police chief as the city endured race riots and the challenges of school integration. He was among those who called for calm in February 1972 when buses began bringing thousands of children to new schools.</p><p>Former Richmond County Sheriff Charles Webster, whom Beck ran against unsuccessfully for the post in 1988, recalled him as "a dedicated law enforcement officer." He said Beck was working for the Augusta Police Department when he arrived in Augusta 1956.</p><p>"We were real close," Webster said. "He was just a good policeman. He was pretty stern."</p><p>Former Augusta City Councilman Oscar Baker said he and Beck became close friends about a decade ago when they were sued by former Augusta Mayor Charles DeVaney over the city's 1949 pension funds.</p><p>"We won our case and kept them from taking $3 million of our 1949 pension fund to run the city with," Baker said. "Three years ago, I gave up the presidency of our group and James became president of our pension fund.</p><p>"He was just a good man. Beck just wanted things to go real straight, and he hung in there and fought for us."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9dbc)</p>

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