RAMSEUR, N.C. — Update: WFMY News 2 spoke with the Chief of police for Ramseur, he is the only full -time officer, he said there are two other officers who work part-time.
It’s possible you may have seen a lot of speculation about what's happening in the Town of Ramseur and what it means for police.
Some people have gone as far as saying the Randolph County Sheriff's office is now in charge of law enforcement in the town.
At this point - WFMY News 2 can confirm that's not the case.
The sheriff's office told us Thursday that it steps in when a town or city doesn't have any officers. That's not the case in Ramseur.
The sheriff's office also called it standard practice to take calls in a town, even when it has a police department.
Earlier this week, Mayor Pro Tem Tresa Hatchett spoke at a town meeting about challenges facing the department.
She said the police chief retired, and all but one officer left to go to another department. She didn't want to speculate about why they left but addressed budget concerns. Hatchett said said the police chief requested a 10% raise for officers, but the town could only afford 5%.
"This year we've had a balanced budget in 10 years or more. That takes strength and growth of people making of commissioners having to make tough decisions. You can't dip into the rainy day fund every time you have a want to justify a want you have," Hatchett said.
Town commissioners did say it's considering having the sheriff's office step in, but it hasn't gotten to that point yet.
WFMY News 2 reached out to the mayor and a town clerk Thursday. They both declined to comment and told us more information should be coming out in the next few days.
WFMY News 2 also called the police department itself to try getting answers. We received a message that the call could not be completed.
This is a developing story. Stay with WFMY News 2 for updates.
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