EAST SPENCER, N.C. — Law enforcement agencies across the country are struggling to recruit enough staff. It’s especially challenging for a small department in Rowan County.
The East Spencer Police Department currently has one employee: the police chief. The Rowan County Sheriff’s Department is working to step in and help out the chief.
The East Spencer Police Department has a fleet of cars with no one to drive them. Chief John Fewell is the only full-time employee on staff right now.
“The biggest challenge is trying to find the time to do all the investigations as well as the administrative work it takes,” Fewell told WCNC Charlotte.
The town gets about five reportable calls a week. Typically, there are eight full-time officers on staff. Fewell said a few have been let go for misconduct, but most have left for better opportunities.
“None of them have left for less than $12,000 more than what they getting here,” Fewell said. “So, it’s a pretty good pay bump for these guys and that will be a change in their livelihood when it comes down to it.”
He said it’s difficult for such a small town to compete on salary.
“Taxes have not gone up and there are no new homes to get that tax revenue from so that’s one of the biggest problems,” Fewell said.
Still, he says there is no reason for the citizens of East Spencer to be concerned. Rowan County Sheriff’s Deputies respond to emergencies but a contract to have them on a more permanent basis is in the works. Sheriff Travis Allen said they’d be paid time and a half, and it would be completely voluntary.
“In a county of Rowan’s size, we’re a large county but we’re not so big that what happens in East Spencer doesn’t affect Spencer. What happens in Spencer doesn’t affect Salisbury. Crime can trickle out to other areas and people pay taxes. They’re citizens of Rowan County just like anybody else is and I think they deserve and are entitled to the same protections everybody else is,” Allen said.
The contract agreement is still being worked on and would have to be approved by the Rowan County Commission.
Allen said this type of coverage is becoming necessary to ensure everyone in the area is protected.
“Larger agencies are more competitive so I think we’ll see more of this in the future: where smaller agencies may contract out,” he said.
Recruiting and retaining a workforce has been a challenge for law enforcement agencies of all sizes.
The Police Executive Research Forum surveyed departments across the country and found the number of total police officers decreased by about 3.5% in 2020 and 2021.
Pay is one of the main reasons for staffing issues. To help combat that, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced Wednesday that officers assigned to their second and third shifts will receive shift differential pay in the form of a 2.5% salary increase.
Resignations and retirements have also been up, and some say the political climate has made it challenging to backfill the positions.
“When the entire profession gets painted with a broad brush that we’re all bad, who’s going to want to come into this profession regardless of how much you make? I think in the recent years that’s been the biggest obstacle,” Daniel Redford, president of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, said.
Rowan County has also hired a recruiter and social media specialist to try and target younger generations.
Salisbury, Spencer, and East Spencer are located in northeast Rowan County approximately halfway between Greensboro and Charlotte along Interstate 85.