New Burgaw police chief credits PCSO experience

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Burgaw has a new police chief in town, who is about to celebrate his 1st month on the job.

Wilmington native James Rowell was sworn in as Burgaw’s police chief on September 2nd.

He took over for Jim Hock, who has served as chief for more than a decade.

Rowell’s career in public service began 30 years ago, assisting law enforcement.

“I started out, right out of high school at 18 years old as a 911 telecommunicator for New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office,” Rowell explained.

He then moved into law enforcement as a member of the UNCW Police Department.

After more than a decade there, he joined the Pender County Sheriff’s Office, where he spent the past 8 years overseeing the county’s support services division.

“That consisted of SRO’s, the civil section so all of the courts, the civil papers,” Rowell said. “The records for the Sheriff’s Office and then the training.”

Rowell said his time with the Sheriff’s Office helped prepare him to become chief.

“Gave me a lot of opportunity to experience things that I never would have otherwise seen. It was a lot of work at times but definitely a rewarding experience and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be able to gather that knowledge and hopefully to be able to use some of that here.”

While he is still getting used to his new position, he said its important to keep everyone in his department ready for anything.

“My job is to make sure that the person beside of me is just as informed as I am. I stand nothing to gain by being the only guy who knows what is going on.”