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Process underway to replace Hewett

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 7:47pm.READ MORE:

Brunswick County is less than a month away from having a new sheriff. State law says that the party of the former sheriff will decide the next sheriff. Because Ron Hewett is a Democrat, the Brunswick County Democratic Party will be choosing the new sheriff. But not without asking for the public's input. Days after Ron Hewett resigned amid corruption allegations, the process for choosing his replacement is already underway. "What's most important now is filling the leadership void right now that was created by Sheriff Hewett resigning," says Robert Epstein, Vice Chair of the Brunswick County Democratic Party. "The county deserves a more regular presence and we are committed to being good stewards of the process." Epstein is part of the committee that will vote on Hewett's replacement. Right now, committee members are compiling a list of candidates. They will then hold a public meeting to hear from the candidates and county residents. After a series of votes, committee members will then submit their choice to county commissioners. "We are very committed to having a very open, transparent and a well-run process," says Epstein. The process is essentially open to anyone. To be a county sheriff in North Carolina, you must be 21 years old, literate, have lived in the county for one year, and lived in the voting precinct for 30 days. No prior law enforcement experience or party affiliation is required. Ron Hewett resigned earlier this week, after serving as sheriff since 1994. In March, he was suspended after 22 current and former members of the department came forward with allegations of misconduct and extortion. A federal grand jury has since indicted hewett, but has yet to put forth its findings. For now, Coroner Greg White remains the county's acting sheriff.

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Ballree

Submitted by Contingency14 (not verified) on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 8:14am.

Gene, Thanks for the eye opener, I had no idea.

Ronald and Rex--what a pair

Submitted by raindrop (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 8:49am.

Ronald and Rex--what a pair of "public servants", they both deserve to be drawn and quartered. Has anyone read the book "Out With Three"-- The Murder and Betrayal of Bald Head Island Police Officer Davina Buff Jones?? What about the 10 years Jonnie Beck did for defending himself? Seems to me that justice is only for the kinfolk and other "Good ole Boys" in Brunswick County District. May all the honest "good ole boys" get what they deserve.

R and R

Submitted by Elaine Buff (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 10:37pm.

I agree with you. And there are more cases just like these.

Emmett Ballree

Submitted by Guest777 (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 5:47am.

Living in The Lakes I am very happy with "THE OFFICERS" I have come in contact with. My opinion is that they are the best and. I have never been on the WRONG end of these officers, but I have had a few personal experiences when I needed their help and I know they care for us out here. I found out about Chief Ballree last week and I am willing to bet, personal use of a town vehicle is not the only thing, it's just the ONE thing he has done so far. Gotta get more comfortable in the job you know and must get CLOSER to our HORRIBLE comissioners. I only hope he does not change our great officers and detectives. Maybe they won't be scared to cross him when the time comes, I hope so anyway.

Those good officers will not change.

Submitted by Gene (not verified) on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:46pm.

I am not very concerned with the good LEO's in BSL changing. They were good upright officers you could be (and are) proud of before Ballree came here and they will be good and upright officers when he is gone. I do worry for them professionally out on the street of course. But I also now, for the first time worry for them internally within the department. The Police Chief in any department can make things very unpleasant for those that report to him. Lets just all hold with great hope they are not treated unethically and that they like this town will be able to weather this storm. As to your reference to the town "horribles", I could not agree with you more. We citizens put them there and we citizens can take them out and as soon as we are rid of them, Lewis needs to go too! To you good and upstanding officers at BSL, there are more citizens behind you than you may think. Hold on to that.

MR HEWETT AND REX

Submitted by GOOD GRIEF (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 4:44am.

I REALLY DON'T THINK THIS COUNTY CAN HANDLE ANYMORE BAD NEWS....LOOSING RONALD WAS HARD ENOUGH IF YOU ASK ME. EVERYONE KNEW HIM AND HE IS A GOOD PERSON I AM SURE BUT WHAT IN THE WORLD????? THE DRUGS ARE STILL BAD AND I AM LIKE SOMEONE ELSE SAID...IF WE KNOW WHERE THE DRUG INFESTIONS YOU KNOW THE POLICE KNOW. WHY WERE THEY NOT TAKEN OFF THE STREETS? I DON'T KNOW-I AM JUST IN SHOCK AND THINKING I AND SEVERAL OTHERS ARE GOING TO BE IN MORE SHOCK SHORTLY. ASHAME THAT THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

Re-elect Ronald

Submitted by ash girl (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 9:38pm.

Reinstate Ronald ....get rid of Smith,Caison,Holden ,West, Piggot and all of the good ole boys!And let's not forget the "honorable" Rex Gore.....I hope this makes all of you Mad...........

what!!!

Submitted by Sourthern Born (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 5:54pm.

LOok Out: Where is all the Ronald Haters, I notice a a small silence as if the world suddenly stood still, A friend of mine said the deputies looked really depressed, I believe you can find the reason tucked away in the NEED TO KNOW SECTION of the star news last friday, " Grand Jury Returned No Indictments for Ronald Hewett" Round one Sexy REX you win Round 2 You Loose but the announcer forgot to put this on this big old TV station so that all the Ronald Haters would Not Have Egg on thier Face for this round.... Wooried.. I would be governer has ordered task force to look into the relationship between Ronald Hewetts Campaign finances and Rexs relationship to the illegal checks, Round Three Should be interesting hope they have more than what we have seen. on Ronald or we might just have to give MR. Hewett the whole county God Speed Replace him soon before we have all the facts...... Dont wait until we can do background checks on some of his co- conspirators, this is not biblical it is embarrassing.... Come on give us all the news...yeah he resigned because rex played dirty by having him susupeneded with the same information he used to convict him, meaning ronald would have to present his entire defense before the criminal trial ever started So Rex stacked the deck but he must be gettimng nervouse, because round three will be the hewett defense and a strategically resignation, he was elected which means if he is forced to resign because REX stacked the deck then could he >>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<..

Your an idiot...

Submitted by Justice on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 11:44am.

All the haters are still here dip stick. He is gone get over it. What happened to your reinstate ronald hewett page????? Did ya give it up? He won't be back. Grow up. He will be in prison before long. He earned his cell.

Nice

Submitted by Zippy Doo (not verified) on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 3:20am.

WOW!!!! NIce grammar...I'm glad to see what side you're on.

To Southern Born About Ronald Hewett

Submitted by Contingency14 (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 10:08pm.

Dear Southern Born, Please get your facts straight before getting on here to post. Here is the orginal article regarding last weeks jury meeting and it does not by any means suggest that the jury has stopped deliberating on Hewett, it simply means that by the end of business that day that they had not issued indictments...but hang on honey they meet every week. NO EGG HERE!!!! Published: Friday, April 18, 2008 at 7:16 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, April 18, 2008 at 7:57 a.m. RALEIGH Grand jury takes no action on Hewett A federal grand jury in Raleigh considering the Ronald Hewett case issued no indictments in the case Thursday. A deputy clerk at the federal courthouse in Raleigh said just after 1 p.m. Thursday that the federal grand jury had finished for the day and had returned indictments in some cases, but Hewett's name was not among them. The grand jury usually meets Wednesday and Thursday the third week of each month. It was the grand jury's first meeting since Hewett, the former Brunswick County sheriff, was indicted March 31 on state charges of embezzlement by a public official and obstructing justice. They were based on a petition that included affidavits from more than 20 former and current employees who said Hewett was intoxicated on the job, harassed women and required deputies to work on property and campaign for him while on duty. The federal investigation came to light when subpoenas were issued in June. Representatives in the U.S. Attorney's Office have said they cannot comment on federal grand jury proceedings. Hewett was suspended March 27 and resigned Tuesday. The Brunswick County Democratic Party's executive committee will meet May 10 to choose his replacement. - Shannan Bowen

Look Out

Submitted by Southern Born (not verified) on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 12:07pm.

Look this is interesting if you will search my comments you will notice I have never said Ronald was innocent do your home work then open your mind, OK that’s impossible for you because you are a police officer that is obvious . So lets talk about justice if my boss orders me to rob a bank.. Can I cry I was worried about my job answer that one while you wiping off the egg … here’s one for you if you and your buddies had admitted to breaking the law while in Raleigh you would be up on charges as well. So I quests your bravery and honor was protected by pleading the Fifth, and as far as the article goes and a grand jury they cannot deliberate forever and march was the deadline for the first round of subpoenas , as far as the second round goes if testimony was given where time sheets were used and they had no signatures or paper work to prove Ronald sign those sheets you can bet your sweet A@@ you and your buddies are next… SO is Ronald innocent NO are the police officers who took my tax dollars while working for Ronald (NOOOOOOO) and might I add he did not force them they volunteered I was there when Keith Smith Begged to Do the Golf Tournament and I will be their to testify against liars so strap on your little GOOBER hat ant get ready , As far as reinstate Ronald Goes anything is better than the stinky 18 at least we know where we stand with Ronald and if they decide to get one of us good public servants I can imagine we will have to wear mirrors on our butts to see them coming , so unless you are not one of the stinky 18, I would imagine you must have your head up your butt too. or are fond of cowards…….

If you are refering to

Submitted by WilmMan on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 9:53am.

If you are refering to Contingency14 about being a police officer, you are way off base. If this is the person I think it is, I have had many discussions with her on another board I can say almost 99% that she is not a police officer

Wilman

Submitted by Contingency14 (not verified) on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 6:35am.

Hi Wil, Yes, it's me and I have never said that I was or was not a police officer, however I do want to go on record as saying I think LEO's are great, the good ones that is. I have many friends in Law Enforcement and even a few relatives. Your one of my favorite writers on the forum. Oh by the way, do not be too sure that I am female..lol. Look forward to many more discussion with you, your a great writer and I enjoy reading your forums.

Support Your Police and Deputies

Submitted by Gene (not verified) on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 5:35pm.

It is great to see the support you show for good and decent Law Enforcement Officers! There are not many jobs that equal the stress and dangers of every day work life as a career in Law Enforcement. These people are in the business for the love of a peaceful and safe community. It is certainly not for the pay! Your genuine support of the fine LEO's is more appreciated than you could ever imagine. They need that support. These fine men and women have enough on their plates without having to serve with or for a dirty cop! Brunswick County is now moving in the right direction to bring honor to the Sheriff's department. This honor had been stripped away by the Sheriff himself. Are others involved? I do not know, there very well may be. If there are, it is my hope not only in support of we citizens but in support of the good officers out there that we are able to remove these too. That is why when I learned of all the dirty laundry in the hands of BSL Police Chief Emmett Ballree I started posting the information and the sources of that information. The citizens of BSL deserve better. And, the officers at BSL should not be subjected to reporting to a Chief with his background. You stated in one of your replies a thank you for the information and that you had no idea about these things. That is what I am trying to do here. Make other BSL citizens aware of these things. The very worst of it all is the fact that the BSL town manager had all these facts in his hand before he did the hiring. Then Mayor Kinney also had these facts and they went ahead with the hire! The rest of the town council had zero say so in the matter! However, they to a man and woman do now and they refuse to do anything about it. You have to wonder why? There has to be a motive and that is a very scary thing. Ballree cut a deal with Mt. Olive and cut and ran! What he got from the deal was, Mt. Olive did not pursue criminal charges so, Ballree has never had a full and complete investigation. He walked away clean and free and now he is here in our town and the fine officers at BSL have to live with that. That is just not right! Ballree was hired and in place for about two weeks before I saw a State Port Pilot that had not been thrown away. Almost everything I have printed was in that paper! It was the article on Ballree being hired! If this is the very best that Hewett and the clan at BSL Town Hall can give the citizens and the good officers of that department, everyone of them needs to go. I put Hewett way above Ballree, Lewis, Kinney, and the rest of the commissioners of BSL. Hewett at the very least did the right thing in the end and resigned. Lewis and company have crammed Ballree down the throats of we citizens and down the throats of good decent law officers. Like anything else vile crammed down ones throat, it makes one want to vomit!

Gene, about Baltree and Hewett

Submitted by Contingency14 (not verified) on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 6:26am.

Dear Gene, I truly do appreciate anyone who provides information about the goings on in Brunswick county Law Enforcement. We as citizens of this community need to pay attention, not just for ourselves, but for the decent, hardworking, good officers who have to deal with the mess that we were so unaware of. In the case of Baltree, I am shocked that the town had prior knowledge and did nothing. What are they thinking. I remember several years ago a few of those officers were fired over an incident with a minor girl they met on the internet. That issue went away very quickly. I have to wonder if those officers maintained their BLET certification. In the case of Hewett, I'm glad that he resigned. He did the right thing for his community by stepping back and allowing for a replacement to come aboard. Now, my concern is this. Who will be that replacement? Are we getting another carbon copy of Hewett? I sure hope not. I do know this about Hewett, he did not start out bad, he ended up badly. I think there are several changes that need to be made to assure that we do not start down the same path. I believe a citizens advisory board would be appropiate. Some where for LEO's and citizens to take a complaint that would allow for an outside look at the situation. Brunswick county is a great place to live, let's work at keeping it that way by putting into place some checks and balances. Again, thanks for taking the time to post that information, it opened my eyes to the situation and it's important that everything get into the light while we have the backing of the state and federal government to clean up the problems.

Police Commissioner

Submitted by gene (not verified) on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 10:12pm.

Thinking further on your remarks, any township large or small has at least a board of commissioners. And while it is common in larger cities and towns, every town, no matter how small needs to at least appoint one of the town commissioners as a police commissioner. I admit, am very pro cop, but at the same time I am a strong civil libertarian. There needs to be someone that the citizens can go to with there complaints about the police department. Also, that person needs to be one that realizes the duties these cops have to perform. In short, a person that would back a good cop to the hilt and at the same time would seek prosecution, if need be for a cop that has broken the constitution and infringed upon the liberty of an American Citizen. This kind of sounds like an oxymoron but it is not. There are rules. The rules are, the Constitution of the United States. When a cop plays by the rules, his charges stick in court. When he does not, they get thrown out. There is no person more honorable than a good LEO. There is no person more despicable than a dirty LEO. A Police Commissioner is a very good start. Maybe not the complete answer, but a very good start.

It goes pretty deep.

Submitted by Gene (not verified) on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 9:21pm.

The officer that was arrested was Luke Stidman. I may have misspelled that name. He (Luke) retained one of Rex Gores's old law partners, I believe Ramos (sp?) is the name. My understanding is this case has been ready to go to trial for over a year. To be fair with the "Horribles" at BSL, this would be more on the shoulders of the prosecutor, Gore than anyone else. Most especially not then Chief White who went to the Jail to fire that officer while he was locked up! This petiphile has no support from former Chief White nor any of the officers serving this town. I also believe strongly he has no support from anyone in town management today. So, for fairness, there it is, they are not part of that very dirty mess! However, back to Ballree. When the State Port Pilot reported Ballree was hired it also wrote about Ballree being accused in Mt. Olive. It went on to pretty much say, David Lewis accepted Ballree's explanation! If you, I, or anyone else checks the reports from the news in Mt. Olive, his explanation, without accusers, simply is nothing! That was just one thing. The other, as reported in the Pilot, given to them by Lewis was a second concern. This was the concern of Ballree's 22 year old son that was expected to live here with Ballree by Lewis. Quoting the paper, "court records indicate charges included assault on a government official and several misdemeanor larcenies, as well as larceny of a firearm from the Mt. Olive Police Department." David Lewis knew all of this and in fact he most likely knew it was four pistols and not one! I have not doubt whatsoever that Richard White's investigation turned up at least what you and I can find on the web, all day, every day. My God, according to the same paper from Lewis's moth there were two dozen applicants and four interviews. My God, what had the other 23 done worse than what was reported? Did every dirty cop in NC apply for this job and Ballree just happen to be the least rotten out of the barrel? I am so sorry I can not give you the date of that paper because stupid me did not scan that part but I will get it for you, one way or the other. Check it out and you will find, Ballree resigned the day he knew of the investigation and thereby faced no criminal charges. His son is a convicted felon! David Lewis had full knowledge of these facts. Joan Kinney who was Mayor at the time should have know all this and if she did not, shame on her for not taking the time to find out what "her" town manger knew. Again, I have to assert, any reasonable person after reading the reports from the Mt. Olive area news and after reading what even Lewis gave to the local paper has to ask, Why? What is in it for them (Lewis and Kinney)? More, why does our current Mayor not step in and demand something be done? It is like a dirty little family secret and if it is not mentioned it will not be a problem. I AM NOT GOING TO STOP MENTIONING IT! More, since becoming Chief here Ballree has been seen all over the county in the BSL car. At Wall Mart, at the cleaners, with family in the car, etc, etc. And the town government does nothing, NOTHING! Again, WHY? The bottom line is, if you support a crook, you are a crook! there is only two reasons I can think of for keeping a dirty cop around. You are either on his payroll or he is on yours! Have you noticed, with all this blog, David Lewis, Emmett Ballree, the Mayor and town council have not denied one single word? They won't. It is their "dirty little secret!"

"God" I Hate It When Your Right

Submitted by Southern Born (not verified) on Thu, 04/24/2008 - 5:48pm.

This is going to be tuff to scribe on this screen, but I AGREE WITH EVRYTHING YOU HAVE SAID HERE... please refrain from being right it hurts to much...

Southern born and Gene about Baltree

Submitted by Contingency14 (not verified) on Sat, 04/26/2008 - 1:31pm.

Gene, Boy did you open my eyes. I have to agree with you and Southern on this, the only reason is someone is in the pocket. Southern, I know what you were saying about sometimes someone will put something out here that just makes you go "WOW". Had you heard all this before? Gene, Please keep posting and try to make sure that you post at the begining of the form to make sure people see this. It's important if we are ever going to clean up the mess that we have that everyone is aware of all the mess that is going on. Thanks again for taking the time to post all this out here. It's very important that we get information on people wanting to take the Sheriff's position.

Appointment of new Sheriff

Submitted by Guest 5641 (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 1:37pm.

Well, I wonder how straightforward Mr. Ward and Mr. Epstein will be when the appointment time comes. Seems they have been holding meetings without benefit of all the members of the committee as soon as Ronald retired. Time for a change in a lot of people. I bet if you took a poll about how many folks want someone appointed from "inside" the department, it would be an overwhelming NO ONE FROM THE INSIDE.

Emmett Ballree For Bruswick County Sherrif

Submitted by gene (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 9:02am.

BSL Police Chief Emmett Ballree is well qualified for Hewett's vacancy as BC Sheriff. Ballree cut and ran when accused of stealing Mt. Olive paid for gas for personal use in his family vehicle, rather than cooperate with a full investigation. Immediately after becoming Chief at BSL he began using his patrol car for personal use including having his family in that car with him. He would be a perfect fit for the space Ron Hewett made vacant. Then, the good deputies at the Sherrifs department could cause these things to come to light rather than stick their head in the sand like every single one of the BSL Town Officials, and finally Ballree would have to fully explain himself (as he never has) or like Hewett, resign. Full disclosure would be a very good thing.

Let's have fairness to all Brunswick County

Submitted by Unfairly treated (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 6:00pm.

It appears that Mr. Ward and Mr. Epstein are running their own show in regard to the appointment of a new Sheriff. They are busy holding secret meetings and excluding other members of the Executive Committee and certainly not giving ANY consideration to the northern part of Brunswick County. It seems to me that in fairness to everyone, there should be a list of the applicants given to all committee members. If Mr. Ward and Mr. Epstein can't play within the rules of the Democratic party, perhaps they should remove themselves from this position of authority. Many of us in the Southport/Oak Island areas feel extremely left out in this process.

what?

Submitted by mommab (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 3:46pm.

I have only lived in this area for a short time but in that time I have heard enough rumors about mr hewett to fill a book. i had an officer tell me herself that the area in bolivia known as "the hill" is an area they don't even go in to. now since it is well known as a crack area and they know there are all kinds of illegal activity going on there why wouldn't they go in there and bust the place up? if they were really concerned about the rampant drug problem in this county, that would be one of the first places to start then they could move on to Lord St. in southport as well as getting the immigration people to investigate the little trailer park in the city limits of southport. I know for a fact there are many illegals living there paying an insane amount of "rent" for one half of a run down trailer, the drugs and alcohol abuse in that place are well known to many. Then they can spend some time with several of the landscapers in BC, take a trip out to St. James,Bald Head and multiple other developments around here and check out the construction workers. Not too many white guys around anymore.It seems to me that the law is willing to turn a blind eye to certain activities while running roughshod over others. That can only mean there are payoffs or relatives involved. It all seems very fishy to me and in light of the comment of no one running against the good ole boy all you have to do is take a look at the board at Dosher Hospital and you will see what happens when a good ole boy gets in office, nothing and no once can stand against them. It is a club and they don't welcome any interference and successfully block any publicity about questionable activity. Just ask the editor of the state port pilot who calls the shots in southport...it is not the people of the town that is for sure!

Dosher Hospital

Submitted by MiniMe (not verified) on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 11:30pm.

MommaB Woah girl - be careful when you speak about things you don't know. You're clearly misinformed and showing your ignorance when you speak of Dosher and the board. You haven't been in Southport to know any history or to know who's who. There were plenty of changes on the board at the last election, and the community absolutely has a say in its hospital.

The trailer park is not in

Submitted by 1 (not verified) on Wed, 05/07/2008 - 10:02pm.

The trailer park is not in the city limits of Southport.

r prince

Submitted by Guest888 (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 10:20am.

Who is he? Who cares? This isnt a space for political advertisements. The process will prevail for the appointment and finally an election for sheriff. Damn, Rons office isnt clean yet and you folks already started on who "you" want for sheriff. Back to the good ole boy system.

Im a Hewett supporter and

Submitted by guest252525 (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 12:13pm.

Im a Hewett supporter and like you I hate Hewett is not Sheriff,but we have 30 days to find a good person to take his place.Do you want one of the 22 deputies to get the job?I hope not.Time is ticking we better find some one that has a clean back ground.Prince has 23 years in law enforcement he is a very good man and he would be great for the people of Brunswick County.

Leland does not even want Prince

Submitted by Leland Resident (not verified) on Sat, 04/19/2008 - 10:45pm.

Did he not just get denied the Chief's position in Leland? Wonder why? If he is not qualified for Leland, how can he be for the whole county?

Brunswick County Sheriff's Department

Submitted by clearheaded (not verified) on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 12:20am.

I am sick of hearing and reading how V. Ward and Mr. Epstein and the commissiiones are worried about the BCSD. I would just like to know how many times they have been there to check and see how things are going. Just to let you know things are going very well. No calls have been un-answered, the staff and everyone there are doing the jobs that they all have been wanting to do and not worry about the sheriff's political future. They are out there every day trying to protect the citizens of Brunswick County. They are all people of this county we should be proud of. Why is it when we of brunswick county think that we must hire people, someone outside the county to do this job. These people have carried on their dutys without missing a beat.The only ones that haven't are the ones who deceided to take long vacations. They probably were not doing their job's before. But as you know Ronald could not fire anyone because of the investgation. I think we need people from this county to do this job because they love this county and the people and it's not the money that is most important.Lastly if you see one of YOUR Brunswick County officers in the up coming days please say thank-you to them for the job that they are doing. remember one man does not make up the department.

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