Sheriff’s annex maycome to Brantwood

ROSEBORO — A Sheriff’s Department annex may soon be housed at Brantwood Court in ongoing efforts to beef up security in the complex and provide greater safety for residents there.

During a meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Alice Butler updated the Roseboro Town Board on those efforts and the finances needed to ensure they happen.

The Sampson County Sheriff’s Department patrols the Roseboro area, which has no town police force. The serviceis one the town pays for annually.

The annex would cost additional money, some $30,000, funds Butler said she hopes will be shouldered by the Eastern Carolina Regional Housing Authority, which oversees Brantwood.

There have been, through the years, shootings and drug arrests that have come from the complex, including last October when two Sampson brothers — Frederick Dixon, 46, Roseboro, and Leo Dixon, 40, of Salemburg — were found lying in the complex’s parking lot shot and dying from their wounds. Both did die despite life-saving efforts by law enforcement.

Brantwood Court has, at times, been considered a haven for the likes of drug dealers, fugitives and individuals walking around armed with handguns and assault rifles.

Because of that, a plea for help was directed to the town board earlier this year, urging the board to help solve these issues.

The town, Butler said, is actively seeking to do just that.

The mayor, along with Denise Parsons, executive director of the Housing Authority, and two members of the sheriff’s office, Capt. Tim Bass and Lt. Donald Carter, met May 6 to begin putting things in place to increase security.

Butler reiterated to board members Tuesday night that new cameras are going to be installed that will capture surveillance in color. In addition, she explained that Duke Energy has plans to repair broken night lights and there will be an addition of four spotlights to illuminate areas where night lights can’t be installed.

“I feel like we are making a lot of progress,” Butler said.

The annex idea was discussed at the May 6 meeting and brought up again Tuesday night at the town board meeting, along with Butler’s request to the Sheriff’s Department to use the services of off-duty officers to provide security and complex surveillance.

Butler said the annex would be housed in the old community building at Brantwood, allowing officers to be closer to the area when calls come in.

Cost for the off-duty officers, based on the Sheriff’s Department request, would be $30,000, funds, Butler said, the housing authority would likely absorb.

Parsons has asked that the town develop a contract proposal requesting the housing authority foot the bill for the security.

Board member Richard Barefoot made a motion for the town to develop a contract with the housing authority, a motion seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Anthony Bennett and passed unanimously.

Butler said the housing authority will meet in July, and she hopes that they will provide the town funds to hire off-duty sheriff’s officers for security.

“Before my tenure, the housing authority used to pay for it,” Butler acknowledged.

During the meeting, Carter explained that the Sheriff’s Department gets a lot of calls from the Brantwood area.

“Some calls are for frivolous reasons, and sometimes people just want to know that we’re there,” he said, adding that officers will always show up if they are called.

Carter told the board an annex at Brantwood would help.

“If everything goes right with the housing authority, which it should, it’ll be a lot easier for us to have more of a presence out there,” he stated.

Butler applauded the fact that people were making reports.

“One thing that definitely helps is that people are calling in more and reporting,” she said. “Being proactive can go a long way.”