Governor Josh Stein reaffirms commitment to public safety, fighting fentanyl crisis at Sheriffs’ Conference

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Sheriffs from across North Carolina were in Wilmington for the NC Sheriff’s Association Spring Conference.

More than 60 sheriffs took part in the 5 day conference, which started on Friday.

On Monday, Governor Josh Stein addressed the group, reaffirming his commitment to public safety, and thanked each of the sheriffs who were directly impacted by Hurricane Helene and others who assisted.

“So to each one of you, I want to thank you for your selfless service to your people and your communities,” Stein said. “That’s never been more true than in the wake of Hurricane Helene out west. In fact, it was 7 months ago yesterday that that storm raged through western North Carolina.”

In his new role as Governor, Stein said he will continue supporting sheriffs across the state, just like he did during his time as the state’s attorney general.

“As attorney general, I worked closely with them for 8 years to fight the fentanyl epidemic, to tackle the largest back log of untested rape kits, to protect kids from child sex abuse. We’ve been partners when I was attorney general. I will remain partners with them for the next 4 years as governor to ensure we keep people here in North Carolina safe.”

New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon said the 5-day conference provides an opportunity to highlight best practices and ways to enhance collaboration among the state’s 100 sheriff’s departments.

“We’re able to be in training together, we’re able to be, kind of have sidebar conversations and really develop our relationships under a time when things are good,” McMahon said. “So when things do go bad, we already got the relationships, we already got the connections. You know, our senior staff is familiar with each other so we can just jump right in and help and just learn from each other.”

Along with Stein, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall also spoke at the conference.