The Anson County Sheriff’s Office is currently providing deputies for the town of Wadesboro again. A new contract is waiting to be signed. I know you have seen deputies responding to calls or you may have even had interactions with them. The employees of the Anson County Sheriff’s Office, Detention Center and 911 Emergency Communications take a tremendous amount of pride in serving the citizens of Anson County, the Town of Wadesboro and the other smaller towns in the county. As everyone knows, the normal and regular thing for law enforcement agencies is to provide police services to their own jurisdictions. And when they can’t, financial contracts must be facilitated, sacrifices made, and monies paid. Town and county officials should do what they do best. Law enforcement should do what they do best. Everyone should respect everyone, and disrespect should not be tolerated by anyone. Communication, trust and commitments should lead to camaraderie. Officers will always support each other, that is a historical fact that will never change.
In the United States, homicide is the second leading cause of death for all young males 15–24 years old. Homicide is the leading cause of death among 10–24-year-old African Americans. This is unacceptable. Guns reach the hands of juveniles and criminals by thefts from unlocked vehicles or because they are unsecured in a home. I believe that both the public and criminal justice system has a shared responsibility, and opportunity, to reduce violent crime, specific to firearms. Please adopt the phrase, “Right to Carry, Duty to Secure”.
It is obvious from being on patrol with Anson County Deputies and Wadesboro Police Officers within the city limits of Wadesboro, that the low number of officers Wadesboro has been using to patrol our streets has let some of the criminal offenses and violence grow. Police agencies are supposed to suppress crime not just react and take reports. When the Sheriff’s Office gets a call to a homicide, violent or tragic event, we call in all the detectives and extra deputies if needed. I have been questioned by the Wadesboro Town Manager why it takes all these detectives to investigate a homicide. He suggests that it should only take two. If Anson County Sheriff’s Office is called to a homicide, we are going to bring everyone we have, that’s my promise to you, the citizens of Anson County and the Town of Wadesboro. The family and the victim deserve the best job we can do. To complain about how much it is costing the town should not be your first concern. The fact is that there were three shootings in six days a couple of weeks ago. Two resulted in homicides. Anson County Detectives assisted by Wadesboro Police made arrest in each of those three calls in less than twelve hours from the time the incident took place.
When I first moved to Anson County in 1985 as a young State Trooper, Wadesboro had a multiple officer Police Department. Morven had a small full-time police department.
Polkton and Lilesville each had one police officer, who was the Chief of Police. Ansonville had abolished their “one” Chief of Police Department in 1983.
I can remember back then the county commissioners and all of the town boards communicated with the other and it seemed they were all friends, and they knew they were all dealing with the same issues but supported each other and they promoted Anson County as a wonderful place to live, as it certainly is! I was not born here but I can tell you I love Anson County with all my heart. I have moved to this county three times. After being away there was always something that worked on me to move back. As that down home friendly feeling and great people were huge lures. I will spend the rest of my days here. I support and love that my daughter and son-in-law will raise our grandchildren here and hope they all will stay in and support Anson County for their lifetimes. People bonded back then in support of each other. Deputies, police officers, troopers, EMS and firefighters hung out together, at each of those agencies departments. All of these fore mentioned folks waited excitedly for the next call to rush out and to serve the citizens of this county. The citizens depended on these agencies and let their appreciation be known at every opportunity they had.
County and city board members ran for office to make positive changes to our towns and the county, not to have an agenda to disrupt the plans of those trying to improve everyday life for the citizens in Anson County. As the Sheriff, when asked by then Chief Brandon Chewing for help, I rallied the fine young men and women of the Anson County Sheriff’s Office and they signed up to work on their days off for the Town of Wadesboro because they had no officers to fill in on their shifts. A contract was entered into and approved by both the county and the town. It was ratified by both boards. Yes, they got paid by the Town of Wadesboro, who would expect them to work for free other than a town board member and town manager? This contract only paid the salaries of those deputies who worked on those assignments. The county picked up the insurance, all other benefits and threw the use of the patrol car in free. This made the city and county expenses of using deputies in the town close to being equal.
And finally, people should make their comments in public, not behind a keyboard on Facebook. On Facebook you can say any cowardly thing you want. It doesn’t even have to be the truth. Usually, it is not. We have a great hometown newspaper called the Anson Record. It’s where everyone used to go to get the truthful news around the county on a weekly basis. Articles cannot be published in the paper unless it can be verified as facts. That’s why some of you would rather stick to Facebook. We have a very good news reporter in Lauren Monica. If you support and read the Anson Record you can tell she has a passion for her job and Anson County has pulled her in like it has so many of us. Some of you have discouraged her from printing the truth in our paper. Even made complaints. Dodged her attempts at interviews. I have seen her at several events on the weekends and board meetings on weeknights. That is a huge sacrifice for a wife and mother of two.
I hope our towns and county can return to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment, collaborating towards shared objectives, focusing on relationships and integrity. Be honest with each other. We should inspire others to join in small actions that lead to bigger impacts for our county. We should foster engagements and connections among community members and our community leaders. We should extend handshakes across the aisle and respect what that means. We should say what we mean and mean what we say! We have some of the most educated and dedicated people I have ever met in this county. Some don’t have high school educations, nor do they need one to help make positive changes in this county. We should listen to all the people in our county to solve problems, if we can’t do that now, how can we expect our children and grandchildren to in the future. We may not be able to change the world, but we can change Anson County!
