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Sheriff Curtis Brame was on Thursday’s edition of WIZS’ Town Talk to provide updates on matters pressing to Vance County and the Sheriff’s Office.
West End Community Watch
Brame was the guest of honor at Tuesday’s meeting of the West End Community Watch held at West End Baptist Church in Henderson.
At the gathering of concerned citizens, Brame reported on the county’s current drug problem and recent “senseless” shootings.
“The recent crimes are of great concern to the law enforcement community,” said Brame. “The rapport-building and the unity between the Sheriff’s Office and the Henderson Police Department have allowed us to come together and bring in outside resources such as the SBI and US Marshals.”
Brame told the crowd that a notable difference is being made on drug activity in the county. “Yes, we are making an impact. We have arrested some of the known targets and are working on infiltrating others.”
Issues with drug activity and crime are not unique to Vance County, Brame explained, “I get a little upset when people talk about Henderson being the worst place in the world to live. That is not true! All surrounding counties face the same issues that Vance County faces.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Brame was asked his opinion on NC Governor Roy Cooper’s recent veto of a proposal that would have made it mandatory for state and local law enforcement to comply with requests to detain illegal immigrants until an ICE agent could retrieve them.
“I was glad that happened [the veto]. The citizens of Vance County and the citizens of other counties voted their sheriff into office. I hate to think the federal government can step in and allow an ICE agent, not a magistrate or a judge – an agent, to override the sheriff,” said Brame.
One of the major discrepancies in the proposal, according to Brame, was how long illegal immigrants were to be detained while waiting for an ICE agent to arrive.
“If ICE doesn’t come and get them within a certain period of time, they aren’t going to stay in jail because they will meet the qualifications of being bonded out by a licensed bondsman, by cash or by property. If someone meets these criteria, I have no legal authority to hold them,” said Brame.
Brame said he believes such authority should only come from a judge or magistrate. “If you order a sheriff to hold someone in detention, there needs to be judge’s or magistrate’s signature on a federal level. Me, the police chief, officers and deputies do not have the authority to put someone in jail unless we have a judge’s signature.”
Available Positions at the Vance County Sheriff’s Office
While the Sheriff’s Office is looking to hire for several positions, Brame reported issues with attracting prospects.
“There is a problem all across the country with filling law enforcement positions,” Brame said. “Locally, it is hard to attract people and hard to retain people when they can leave Vance County and go to surrounding counties and make $4,000 – $6,000 more a year.”
Brame said this figure far exceeds the $29,000 annual salary granted to detention officers at the Vance County Jail or the $33,000 starting pay for deputies.
One way Vance County citizens can do their part to make law enforcement a more attractive field, according to Brame, is to “support your sheriff and police chief now and in the future, no matter who they are.”
“Support your local law enforcement. Go to City Council meetings and County Commissioners meetings and tell them to pay these deputies, pay these police officers, pay these first responders. Pay these people!”