Andrews – Town police officers will soon wear body cameras.
Last month, the Andrews Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to spend $2,400 each year for the next five years on video cloud storage. The five-year deal includes eight new Axon body cameras and a docking station to automatically upload video to the cloud.
Andrews Police Chief Rocky Burrell said officers will be required to activate their body camera every time they initiate or respond to a call. Failure to do so could result in a reprimand.
At the Oct. 12 meeting, aldermen also voted to establish a $2,500 sign-on bonus for new full-time police officers. The bonus is meant to bolster recruitment efforts in this competitive market.
Burrell said a bonus will be paid to new full-time officers who have already graduated N.C. Basic Law Enforcement Training and have at least one year of service with an agency.
“We’ve not had to spend as much on salaries, being that we’re shorthanded,” Burrell said when selling his idea to aldermen. “There’s some [bigger] agencies offering as much as $5,000 and $10,000, and I saw small agencies with $5,000 offers.”
Today, the Andrews Police Department employs two sworn full-time officers: Westley Farley and Bronson Kirby. Additionally, it employs a full-time paid trainee named Shawn Esajas.
Meanwhile, the department employs three sworn part-time officers, each of whom are employed at other agencies full time: Robby Rivers, Zach Shivers and J.J. Wooten. Two others are also in the process of being hired as part-time officers for Andrews.
“If we offer this $2,500 bonus, maybe we can recruit someone who is already experienced,” Burrell said. “The goal is to recruit full-time officers. This would not apply to any part-time positions.”
Aldermen also approved Burrell’s employment contract at last month’s meeting, unanimously voting to pay him an annual base salary of $60,000, with a minimum 6 percent raise each year through August 2026.