BURGAW — Six months after Alan Cutler was sworn in as sheriff of Pender County, we checked in with the former state trooper to see how he was tackling his election campaign agenda.
Most pressing for the new sheriff: dedicating more resources to the county’s opioid problem, building up manpower to ensure areas like the county’s sparsely populated western region can begin to feel a stronger law enforcement presence, and breaking down a communication barrier between the department and the county’s residents.
Fighting the opioid crisis
One of Cutler’s first moves in office was to dedicate resources toward the county’s opioid crisis, particularly heroin addiction, which he sees as the most pervasive and pressing issue facing Pender County.
“We’ve put more people in our narcotics unit,” he said. “And we are making some arrests, making some headway, and getting some real good feedback from communities on that [issue].”
According to PCSO spokesman James Rowell, drug-related arrests have risen to 7.8 per month on Cutler’s watch, compared to an average of 2.7 in the last eleven months of Smith’s tenure.
Additionally, last month he began allowing visitation sessions between opiate-addicted inmates in the county jail and volunteers with the non-profit Broken Horse. The primary goal of the program, he said, is to provide prisoners a head start on addiction recovery before they re-enter the general population.
His department also just reintroduced McGruff the Crime Dog mascot to the county’s schools in an attempt to beef up drug awareness programs.
Expanding presence in outlying western areas
A second issue Cutler said he has addressed is a longtime disparity between the well populated, coastal areas of the county and the sparse, rural western region.
“We need more manpower … The outlying areas of the western part of the county felt like they didn’t really see anyone from the sheriff’s department out there,” Cutler said. “To be more visible in those areas is a big concern.”
Unlike areas such as Hampstead and Burgaw, the county seat, patrol vehicles are uncommon in more isolated rural communities. More patrol cars in any area means less crime and less drug activity, Cutler said, because criminals “wouldn’t have the freedom to go about their business like they have been.”
According to Cutler, the department has filed paperwork for a Governors Highway Safety Grant to add four traffic deputies to the department.
Breaking a communication barrier
Cutler also believed it was necessary to broaden the department’s contacts with his constituents, and he tapped Deputy Jerry Groves to travel the county setting up monthly meeting spots with community leaders and residents.
“In general, we needed to step up [our communication] and develop a better relationship between the community and the department,” Cutler said. “This is a way for the community to express their concerns and have a dialogue with our representatives — break down the communication barrier with us and the community.”
Groves is also helping these communities reintroduce community watch programs.
“We’re trying to bring programs like these back around,” Cutler said. “Some still exist in the county but were kind of laid aside over time. We’re trying to get them stirred up again.”
Mark Darrough can be reached at [email protected]
