The past two weeks have brought big crime news to the small towns and rural countryside of Anson County.

On June 28, the Waffle House in Wadesboro was robbed by three men armed with guns. They, along with a fourth man who drove the getaway car, then car jacked a vehicle in Ansonville.

Eight days later, on July 6, the body of a man who died of a gunshot wound was found near Ansonville.

The good news is, in both cases, suspects were arrested quickly. Two suspects in the Waffle House robbery were arrested the next day, with a third suspect apprehended in Winston-Salem three days after the robbery. And, after the body of Ervin Donell Polk of Charlotte was discovered July 6, two murder arrests were made on July 8.

Although the timing of these two violent crimes is somewhat disconcerting—just one week apart— the fact that the suspects were apprehended within a day or two is a testament to our local law enforcement.

In both cases, the Anson County Sheriff's Office worked with the SBI and in the Waffle House robbery, the Wadesboro Police Department, to bring about swift justice to the alleged perpetrators of these crimes.

It is encouraging to see that our law enforcement leaders and investigators are willing to work together to make sure that crimes that occur in Anson County are solved quickly.

Just two months ago, the Wadesboro Police Department and Anson County Sheriff's Office also worked with the FBI, ATF, SBI, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and the District Attorney's office on a nine-month long investigation that resulted in the arrest of 11 suspects on drug charges, as well as three more suspects on armed robbery and weapons charges.

The news that these alleged drug dealers had been terrorizing parts of Wadesboro for years was disturbing. But the fact that they're now off the streets, thanks to the hard work of law enforcement, is encouraging, indeed.

In addition, at the June meeting of the Lilesville Town Council, Police Chief Kevin Mullis reported that his department hadn't "had a crime in the city limits since April 7." At that time, the town had gone two solid months with zero crime reported. That's nothing short of amazing, even for a small town.

Sometimes it's easy to criticize the local police chief or sheriff for not doing their jobs as we think they should, but at least here in Anson County, we should instead thank them for making our streets— and rural highways— a little bit safer.