RAMSEUR, N.C. — A Randolph County town turned to a new, but familiar source for law enforcement.
The sheriff's office is now in charge of covering Ramseur.
It comes after a few months of uncertainty surrounding the police department.
The days of seeing Ramseur police cruisers in town have ended.
"Every town has its reputation so in certain parts, bad areas of the town they would keep an eye and now I barely see any," said Ramseur resident Shyanne Shaw.
For some time the Ramsuer police chief was the only full-time employee.
With the chief's recent retirement and the resignations of several officers because of low wages, the Randolph County sheriff's office will take over the town's public safety.
"It's going to be further travel. Little things can happen often," said Ramsuer resident Wilma Wimbish. "It was convenient to have them around the corner it's disheartening to me that we lost them over a little pay increase. It's ridiculous."
The police department requested a 10% pay raise but the town said it could only afford half of that, causing them to lose officers to other towns.
As a solution, the town entered an agreement with the Randolph County Board of Commissioner for the county sheriff's office to add Ramseur to its coverage area.
This is concerning for Shaw because she has a special needs son.
"He gets sick within a drop of a hat anything would happen it takes so long," Shaw said. "Now we don’t even have a police department that can come down to assist.”
Ramseur mayor Hampton Spivey said “The town will have the best protection it ever had" in a statement.
The plan approved by the county commissioners includes adding a clerk and 5 deputies to the sheriff's office who will patrol, respond to calls, and assist in criminal investigations from a sheriff’s office substation.
The start-up cost is covered by the town. The remainder will come from the county's general fund.