Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker recalls his visit to the State of the Union

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Congressman David Rouzer invited Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker as his guest to last week’s State of the Union address. 

On Wednesday, WWAY caught up with Sheriff McVicker to learn more details about his trip to D.C.. 

McVicker said he was initially caught off-guard when Congressman Rouzer reached out and invited him to Washington. 

“I did not feel that I was beneath anyone, nobody was any better than anybody else. They were just plain ordinary people,” McVicker said. “I had the privilege of having dinner with them the afternoon of the State of the Union and there was nothing about the trip I didn’t enjoy.” 

McVicker said one of the main reasons Rouzer invited him to D.C. was to give lawmakers a chance to hear from front-line law enforcement about problems they face daily. 

He said one of the hot-button issues in the upcoming election is the crisis at the southern border. He said it is fueling a drug and crime crisis on a local, state, and national level. 

“I hope and pray they will listen to the people on the frontline, such as I, and the citizens of our great country, and will consider closing the borders. I do believe it’s a problem, I know it’s a problem,” McVicker said. 

He said he was also given the opportunity to talk about the drug crisis in Bladen County and what he and his deputies are doing to solve it. 

“We’ve had more overdoses in the last several years than ever in the history of Bladen County,” McVicker said. 

He said the sheriff’s office is trying to reduce those numbers by arresting the people bringing drugs into Bladen County to sell or use.