Wingate Town Council votes to eliminate police department

WINGATE, NC – To little surprise, the Wingate Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to eliminate their police department, despite a last minute plea from officers to residents to save their job.

Last week, the police department found out their jobs on were on the chopping block.

Officer Sterling Hall told us on Monday, he believed the decision was already made by council despite their attempt to match the Union County Sheriff’s Office’s offer that would slash about $300,000 from the town budget.

Some residents pushed back to the officers. Saying they aren’t present enough in the community.

It’s unclear when UCSO will take over. However,  Officer Hall tells WCCB, he and officer Randy Down, who both spoke at the meeting, were told afterwards to turn in their shields by Friday. Hall says no reason was given.

We reached out to UCSO asking what their plan is for taking over patrol and when that will start. The spokesperson for the sheriff’s office says they will be speaking with the sheriff on Wednesday and will get a response to us then.