“As the demand changes for our services, it’s going to take more people,” Wrightsville Beach Police Chief Dan House said during an April 21 phone interview.
That increase in demand, he said, stems from a string of recent incidents in the town’s bar district — most notably a Feb. 28 late night scuffle that led to one man biting off another man’s earlobe. By more people, House means an extra police officer and a community watch program.
House’s proposals for extra manpower await a vote of approval from the aldermen at the board’s final budget meeting April 29. He first introduced the community watch program concept during his quarterly Chat with the Chief April 16 to gauge residents’ willingness to participate in the effort.
The 10 or so citizens attending the presentation in town hall council chambers seemed in favor of the proposal. But, House said, a successful community watch requires residents to donate their time.
“It was just an idea to float it out there . . . to see what kind of interest I am going to get,” he said.
House said Wilmington and New Hanover County each run a similar program, a citizens’ police academy, that could be an option for the town.
“We might reach out to them and see what benefit they get out of it,” he said, “but that depends on getting the extra [officer] position because if we don’t get that, we just don’t have the time or manpower to put one of those programs together.”
When House proposed hiring an extra police officer during prior budget meetings, he received pushback from aldermen. House claimed creating the new position would include a restructuring of the entire department in a way that would not cost the town any extra money.
The board members wanted concrete proof of that, so House met with Mayor Bill Blair to explain exactly how he could add a position at no cost.
Capt. M. Core is retiring soon, House said, and rather than fill the vacant captain position he wants to hire a lieutenant and an officer. He said this would take administrative duties away from his sergeants, allowing them to be out on the road all day. The two lieutenants would take on the administrative duties during the week and patrol on the weekends. They would rotate shifts, so a lieutenant would always be on duty and patrolling downtown on weekend nights.
House said his proposal would create more efficiency in the department and put an additional officer on the road.
He said the cost of hiring an extra officer would be offset by cutting five reserve officer positions. Those positions are currently vacant, House said, although costs related to filling them, which he estimated at $5,000 per officer, are built into the budget.
“Once I actually did the math it looks like it’s actually going to be saving the town money,” he said.
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