The roundtable consisted of leaders from law enforcement agencies across the Cape Fear region, including New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon and Wilmington Police Chief Ryan Zuidema.
Also in attendance were Brunswick County Sheriff Brian Chism, UNC-Wilmington Police Chief Frank Brinkley, Southport Police Chief Todd Coring, Oak Island Police Chief Charles Morris, and Wilmington Social Worker Melissa Moore.
Stein briefly addressed growing concerns over federal immigration sweeps happening in major North Carolina cities, like Charlotte, since many locals are concerned that the impact of these crackdowns will start trickling down to smaller municipalities.
Earlier this week, NHCSO confirmed that nine immigration detainees arrested in Raleigh were held overnight at the county detention center, but McMahon said the overall gauge on ICE’s level of enforcement in Wilmington isn’t quite clear.
Stein agreed that ICE’s targeting can be unpredictable.
“They don't really tell us where they're going. But I've been in Charlotte a couple of times since they appeared there, and it created widespread panic and fear," he said.
But the lion's share of the conversation centered on what could be done to recruit, train, and retain more personnel to handle day-to-day public safety concerns. Needs include higher pay, better benefits, and more robust mental health support for officers.
Wilmington is one stop on Governor Stein’s statewide series of roundtable discussions with local law enforcement agencies. He’s promoting his $195 million public safety package to fund crime prevention initiatives and to help incentivize people to apply to these roles.
“What makes our community safer is, over the long term, making sure that our local law enforcement, who will be here long after these federal agents go, have the training and resources that they need to succeed in keeping us safe,” Stein said.
