The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association hosted sheriffs, top staff from sheriff’s offices, as well as other state and federal officials from across North Carolina this week at their annual Spring Meeting in New Hanover County where they talked about all things law enforcement.
Founded in 1922, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is a statewide not-for-profit professional and educational organization that was created to bring the state’s 100 sheriffs together at times during the year in order to strengthen the law enforcement profession in the state and to improve services their offices provide to the people of North Carolina.
The annual Spring Meeting is an opportunity for sheriffs and top staff to take part in new training and to listen to panel discussions on a wide variety of topics.
This year, the training sessions focused largely on lessons learned from the Hurricane Helene disaster in western North Carolina with a focus on the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association’s Statewide Disaster Assistance Network.
That’s a program created and operated by the NC Sheriffs’ Association that lets sheriffs’ offices request and offer aid to other sheriff’s offices in the state in the event of a disaster or some issue such as major civil unrest in a particular part of the state.
After Hurricane Helene hit the North Carolina mountain region late last year. sheriff’s office staff from all parts of the state helped in the recovery efforts through Disaster Assistance Network. Many of those who participated were invited to be panelists at this year’s Spring Meeting. During the panel discussions, the law enforcement officers spoke on the impact Hurricane Helene had on their communities, how other sheriffs came to their aid – as well as how they were able to provide help to their fellow sheriffs.
NC Sheriffs’ Association President Mike Roberson, the sheriff of Chatham County, said a lot can be learned by all at conferences such as this one.
“Since we cancelled last year’s Fall Meeting due to Hurricane Helene,” he said, “the Spring Meeting is the first opportunity sheriffs have had to come together since the storm. As communities across the state are still recovering from Helene, events like this meeting allow sheriffs to continue to evaluate what we learned and what we can do better when there is another event similar to Helene.”
Roberson added, “Our Spring Meeting and other Association events are a great way to facilitate ‘sheriffs helping sheriffs’ like we saw this past fall.”
At the meeting, Association Chairman Sheriff Darren Campbell of Iredell County thanked New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon for hosting the Spring Meeting in his county as he’s done before.
“The Association extends its heartfelt appreciation to New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon for welcoming sheriffs and other officials to the area for another
successful meeting,” Campbell said.
Sheriffs and staff who attended also took a moment to celebrate the recipients of this year’s “Lifetime Defender of Public Safety Award.”
This year’s recipients recently concluded their service as members of the NC House of Representatives:
- Rep. George Cleveland
- Rep. John Faircloth
- Rep. Jason Saine
- Congressman Tim Moore, who currently serves in the US House of Representatives.
That Lifetime Defender of Public Safety Award is given to former members of the North Carolina General Assembly who’ve recently left office and have “dedicated their legislative career to defending the constitutional Office of Sheriff and promoting public safety for all North Carolina citizens.”
