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Red Springs commissioners approve transferring school resource officer duties to county
Summary
The Town of Red Springs board voted on June 9 to transfer SRO duties at Red Springs High School to the Robeson County Sheriff Department after presentations from county officials and the town police chief; the meeting also recorded conflicting statements in the transcript about vote counts and the police chief’s name.
On June 9, 2025, the Town of Red Springs Board of Commissioners voted to transfer school resource officer (SRO) duties at Red Springs High School to the Robeson County Sheriff Department following presentations from county law enforcement and remarks from the town’s police chief.
County representatives—including Damien McLean (identified in the transcript as a chief of investigations), Major Tammy Deese and First Sergeant Steven Thompson—told the board that placing trained deputies in schools ensures officers with skills tailored to educational settings and helps build rapport between students and law enforcement. The representatives said county deputies could assume SRO duties within the Red Springs High School.
The town’s police chief (the transcript uses two spellings, “Sarah Patterson” and “Sarah Purcell”) urged the board to keep SROs within the Red Springs Police Department, saying local officers are familiar with residents and the community’s history, build relationships with students and keep kids out of trouble, and that the department planned to train additional officers to serve as SROs.
The transcript records an earlier tally showing two commissioners (Ronnie Patterson and Neal Lea’Kes) were in favor of retaining SROs with the Red Springs Police Department and four commissioners (Caroline Sumpter, Duron Burney, Murray McKeithan and Chris Edmonds) opposed. Later in the minutes, Commissioner Duron Burney moved to transfer SRO duties to the Office of the Robeson County Sheriff Department; Mayor Pro Tempore Caroline Sumpter seconded the motion, and the minutes record that "all voted in favor of the motion." The minutes contain inconsistent details about who voted which way earlier in the discussion; the board’s formal motion to transfer SRO duties is recorded as approved.
The transfer shifts the immediate responsibility for school policing from the town police to county deputies. The minutes do not list implementation details such as a start date, written agreement, or a plan for training or supervision following the transfer. The board recessed to continue budget work and scheduled a reconvened meeting for June 16, 2025.
The board’s record uses the institution name "Robeson County Sheriff Department" and alternates between "Red Springs Police Department" and "Red Spring Police Department"; this article quotes those terms as they appear in the transcript rather than standardizing department names not explicitly stated in the minutes.
Next steps: the minutes show the motion passed and the board will continue budget deliberations at the reconvened meeting on June 16, 2025.
