Pope retiring after 30 years in law enforcement

A longtime local law enforcement officer and stalwart of the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office with more than three decades of service, Capt. Eric Pope will be retiring at the end of this month, as he looks ahead to a new career and his first term as a county commissioner.

Pope’s retirement is effective July 31.

“At the 30-year mark, you’ve got to start questioning, do you hold up the space or do you allow other people to move up?” Pope said. “I’ve got 30 hard years in — 30 actual years in the system.”

That includes 10 years as an officer with the Clinton Police Department, where he started as a reserve officer in June 1993 before coming on in a full-time capacity a year later. After a decade with Clinton PD, Pope did a year-long stint at the N.C. Justice Academy before moving on to the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office in March 2004.

More than 20 years later, Pope said it’s tough to leave a place that’s so familiar, one he has seen grow exponentially through the years, from the department’s humble headquarters on Elizabeth Street, when the old jail was downtown, to its current compound at the Law Enforcement Center on Ferrell Street.

“I’ve got bugs in my stomach,” a candid Pope remarked. “I’ve been with a good group of people. We’ve got each other’s backs. I know everybody’s strengths and weaknesses; they know my strengths and weaknesses. We complement one another. I’m leaving that comfort and I’m going to start another job, and I’m going in as the low man there. I’ll be the new kid on the block, and I have to learn a whole new system of doing things. So it’s kind of nerve-racking, but exciting at the same time.”

That next position will be as the instructor for the public safety program at Lakewood High School, part of Sampson County Schools’ Career and Technology Education program. Lakewood’s public safety program, just like its instructor, will be new for the 2024-25 year.

Pope saw it as a good fit, something different but in a field he knows well. Pope has served the county’s public safety community in one way or another since he was 16 years old. He started out as a volunteer member of Clinton-Sampson Rescue, well before his decades-long career in law enforcement even began.

“I started out as volunteer EMS in this county in 1988. From the time I was 16 years old until today, I have been involved in public safety in this county or serving some portion of this county through public safety,” Pope said.

When he began at the Sheriff’s Office, that meant applying for grants that saw equipment purchased and various programs implemented that sought to combat domestic violence, drugs and gang activity, as well as make highways safer.

“We wanted to have a more proactive approach, rather than reactive, and the personnel we got in those positions was very key,” Pope recalled. “When I first came to the Sheriff’s Office, there were zero instructors in-house. I was the only certified instructor. Over the years — I’m not taking credit for this by any means — we started sending people to classes and we developed our own cadre. I would identify people and send them to school to become an instructor, and we developed our own core group of instructors, some of which have gone on to gain statewide notoriety in their field. I’m proud of them for what they did.

“We took a small, sleepy Sheriff’s Office and, through a lot of teamwork and effort on a lot of people’s parts, we have a very well-equipped Sheriff’s Office now, and we have probably one of the best firearms training programs in the state,” said Pope. “We put a lot into the development of the officer and the application of their skills.”

While he’s now moving away from the agency, that role in public service will continue.

“I’ll still be associated with public safety people, and helping to recruit future generations to fill some of the vacancies they’re battling,” said Pope of the Lakewood High gig. “I figured it would be a good opportunity to try something different.”

Making the decision a little easier to move on from the Sheriff’s Office was what also awaits Pope at the end of this year, as he is poised to take the oath as a county commissioner in Democrat.

Back in March, Pope won the race for the District 2 Sampson County Board of Commissioners seat, amassing more than two-thirds of the vote to oust Republican incumbent and current board chairman Jerol Kivett. Upon his presumptive election — there is no Democrat awaiting in November — Pope said that, while he was already eyeing retirement, the election expedited the move away from the county department.

“At the end of the day I was very humbled,” Pope said of his election. “I’ve worked for a political official before, and I’ve seen the trust place in him and I understand the importance of it — but now it was me. I’m not going to take it for granted. I’ve always been in public service. I still wanted to be able to serve my community. I’m from here, was raised here and went off to college and came back here to work to try to help my community. I want to continue to make my community better.”

Pope spent years obtaining management training, including the County Administration Course through the School of Government. He managed the Sheriff’s Office budget and Human Resources functions of the department for years, as well as acted as a spokesperson for the agency. Lt. Marcus Smith will continue to serve as one of the department’s public information officers, with a secondary PIO to be named in the future, Pope noted.

“It’s just like a new job — a little apprehensive, a little nervous,” Pope said of the county commissioner’s post that awaits him. “I think that I have a lot of enthusiasm. Transitioning to a commissioner still allows me the opportunity to serve the citizens of this county, just in a different capacity, where I have to be prepared to look at the larger picture, the grand scheme of things and the long-term planning for sustainability in this county.”

Pope has been taking classes and working toward his MBA to prepare him for the point he is now. He’s also spent time networking with people across the county, including getting the perspectives of those in various county departments, he said.

“I understand their needs; I understand their concerns,” Pope attested. “Being able to work with the rest of the commissioners to help build a long-term sustainability plan for this county is an opportunity I’m waiting to address.”