Causey announces retirement

New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey surprised a lot of people when he announced his retirement Tuesday. At age 64, Sheriff Causey is taking the county's golden parachute, the early retirement package aimed at trimming New Hanover County's payroll. WWAY’s Jenna Caiazzo sat down with Sheriff Causey late this afternoon and spoke to him about his 39 years with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Department. Sid Causey's career in law enforcement started on a whim. Back in 1970, Causey quit his job in construction and took a position as a police officer at Carolina Beach. "Children growing up have ambitions to be firemen, doctors, lawyers, and everything, and I never thought I had a desire to be a law enforcement officer,” Causey said. It wasn't until he cracked his first breaking and entering case that he said, he was hooked on fighting crime. He's come a long way since the days of the Carolina Beach PD, where he said the two police vehicles each had more than 150,000 miles on them. “Six days a week, no overtime, no flex time, one pair of pants and two shirts." At 25, he moved on to the New Hanover County Sheriff's Department where he got his feet wet in every department: patrol, criminal investigations and vice narcotics. Thirty-nine years later, Sheriff Sid Causey said it's time for something new. “Its just going to be a new time in our lives, I'm a little anxious about it, I'll be around, it's not like I'm moving out of town. I'll check on them, see if they're doing things right, and if they aren't I'll let them know, ha ha." Causey will step down on July the first. He will then make a nomination to the Democratic Party for someone within the office to take over for the interim. That person will fill in through December. At that point, the party will make another nomination, and there will be an election for a new sheriff.