Mission Statement
"The Mission of the Rockingham Police Department is to enforce the laws and ordinances of the State of North Carolina and the City of Rockingham. By providing quality law enforcement we safeguard lives, enhance community safety, protect property and reduce the impact and fear of crime. Our officers seek and preserve public confidence by impartial observance of the law and by offering service and trust to all members of the public."
The Police Department serves a population of approximately 10,000 citizens in Richmond County. The department has four main divisions: Patrol, Detectives, Communications and Administrative Services.
There are 35 sworn officers, four full-time telecommunicators, one full-time and one part-time administrative assistant. The Detective Division consists of six investigators, two assigned to Narcotics, three to Major Crimes, and one assigned to work in investigating domestic violence offenses.
The Police Department also has three special taskforce teams, including a Traffic Enforcement team, SWAT team and a K-9 team.
If you are interested in finding out more about employment opportunities with the City Of Rockingham Police Department, please visit the employment opportunities page.
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Safe Kids and Rockingham Police Team Up
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Safe Kids N.C. and the Rockingham Police Department informed the public on the temperature difference inside and outside of a hot car on Saturday, Aug. 31, with a public demonstration at the Lowe's Home Improvement store in Rockingham, NC. A vehicle was set with a large thermometer that displayed the outside temperature versus the inside temperature of the car.
The display was used as part of an educational program to remind people to never leave children or pets inside of a vehicle. To read more on this program please visit the Safe Kids website.
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Long Drive Community Project
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| Chief Kelly & Captain Grant, along with Complex Mgr. Judy Allard |
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In the summer of 2013 the Rockingham Police Department and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office partnered with Crown Pointe and Gardenwood Apartments in a joint community policing project. The goal of the project was to bring residents of high crime areas and law enforcement together in an effort to deter crime and provide a more family friendly environment.
Officers with the Rockingham Police Department and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office were assigned to a Command Post inside the apartment complexes this summer to work alongside residents. Interaction with the youth in the community included weekly events, such as movie and popcorn afternoons.
The project concluded with officers, along with complex managers, handing out school supplies, along with hotdogs, chips and refreshments to the young residents. Officers encouraged the youth to remain in school and do well in their academics.
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| Thomas Pressley |
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Accused bank robber out of hospital, charged and under bond
by Dawn M. Kurry Richmond County Daily Journal
Following a bank robbery in Rockingham two weeks ago that ended in a cross-county line chase, a suspect is behind bars facing multiple charges, police said.
On Aug. 16 the Rockingham BB&T branch located at 920 Rockingham Road was robbed by a Thomas Andrew Pressley, 57, of Marshville, who threatened the use of explosives in order to get bank employees to meet his demands, according to the Rockingham Police Department.
The Rockingham Police Department was contacted and shortly thereafter officers located the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to stop it. Pressley refused to stop and was pursued into Anson County where Anson County Sheriff’s deputies used Stop Sticks to deflate the tires of the vehicle, lawmen said. The vehicle continued on for a short while until it crashed at Wades Mill Road with a second vehicle, police said.
The female driver of the vehicle that was struck was transported to Anson Community Hospital with unknown injuries. Pressley was also transported to Anson Community Hospital with complaints of pain, according to Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly.
The case was investigated by Rockingham Police Department’s Detective Unit, and Pressley has been charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon, felony flee/elude arrest with a motor vehicle and multiple other traffic violations that were filed in Anson County, according to Chief Kelly.
The arrest was made after Pressley was released from a hospital located outside of the county and transported back to Rockingham. Pressley remained in the hospital for several days with officers from Rockingham Police Department guarding him at all times, according to a press release from the agency. Once he arrived back into Richmond County, he was served with his warrants and placed in the Richmond County Jail under a $300,000 bond.
Pressley was charged with an armed robbery in the 1970s, according to the Rockingham Police Department, as well as other financial crimes.
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Rockingham Police Officers Recognized
by Dawn M. Kurry and John Charles Robbins Richmond County Daily Journal
Rockingham Police Department officers received certificates of achievement this week. Pictured left to right are Chief Kelly, Det. Shawn Paxton, Det. Larry Tunstall and Sgt. Andy Ansley.
Sergeant Andrew Ansley and Detective Shawn Paxton were each presented with an Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate at the meeting, and Chief Kelly said they are each outstanding officers who have worked hard to advance their training and education while continuing to serve their community.
According to Kelly, Ansley has been in law enforcement since 2000, and has been with Rockingham Police Department since 2006. Shortly after joining the police department, Ansley became a K-9 officer, and he handles Leica, the first K-9 to be purchased by Rockingham Police Department. Ansley lives in Rockingham and is married with two children.
Paxton, 32, of Rockingham, has been in law enforcement since 2002. Most of his police career was spent in Rockingham, apart from a brief period during which he spent time training police officers in Iraq. Paxton handles Crime Scene Investigation as well as other investigations. According to Kelly, Paxton maintained his caseload while earning his Advanced Law Enforcement Certificate. Paxton is also working on his associates degree through Stanley Community College and plans to continue his education after that at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Detective Larry Tunstall was presented with a Completion of Criminal Investigation Program Certificate, after 500 hours of coursework, which must be completed within a three-year period to earn the certificate, according to Kelly. According to Tunstall, he took courses in child death investigation, interrogation and 80 hours of crime scene processing. Tunstall has been in law enforcement for 15 years and has been at Rockingham Police Department for five and a half years. Tunstall also holds an Interim and Advanced Law Enforcement Certificates, as well as a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from UNCP.
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National Night Out 2013
was held August 6th
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| Junior Police Academy 2013 |
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Junior Police Academy was held July 22nd-July 26th at the Rockingham Police Department. Please visit our JPA page for more
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Rockingham Police Department's Units Get New Look - Designed by Officers of RPD
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FBI computer virus demands money
by Laura Edington
Richmond County Daily Journal
6 days ago | 15693 views | 0  | 5  |  | 
Contributed photo This screen shot shows what the FBI ransom ware virus looks like.
A computer virus is locking up computers in Richmond County and beyond and trying to scam people out of money.
The virus is called the FBI Green Dot MoneyPak Virus or the FBI ransomware scam and shows itself as a pop-up screen on the computer. The screen completely locks the computer down and tells the user that the computer has been locked for violating a federal law, usually related to child pornography.
The virus tries to scare computer users into paying a fine with a Green Dot MoneyPak debit card.
The Green Dot MoneyPak card is a prepaid debit card that can be reloaded with money as needed. The cards are sold at Walmart, Walgreens, CVS/pharmacy and many other locations.
The Walmart corporation has been notified of this scam and has released a statement with a screen shot of what the virus looks like.
The virus screen says, “This operating system is locked due to the violation of the federal law of the United States of America! (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8; Article 202; Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the U.S.A. provides for a deprivation of liberty for four to twelve years.) Following violations are detected: Your IP address was used to visit websites containing pornography, child pornography, zoophilia and child abuse. Your computer also contains video files with pornographic content, elements of violence and child pornography! Spam-messages with terrorist motives were also sent from your computer. This computer lock is aimed to stop your illegal activity. To unlock the computer you are obliged to pay a fine of $200. You have 72 hours to pay the fine, otherwise you will be arrested. You must pay the fine through MoneyPak: To pay the fine, you should enter the digits resulting code, which is located on the back of your MoneyPak, in the payment form and press OK (If you have several codes, enter them one after the other and press OK). If an error occurs, send the codes to address find@fbi.gov,” the virus says.
— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
Read more: Richmond County Daily Journal - FBI computer virus demands money
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Reports of Counterfeit Monies
Recently the Rockingham Police Department has been receiving reports of counterfeit $20 and $100 bills at local businesses. Some of the fake bills have matching serial numbers, however, some do not. Some of the counterfeits are made by bleaching a $5 bill and copying a one hundred bill onto the treasury money. The pens that are used to check the validity of the bill will then be useless. If you hold the counterfeit bills up to the light you can still see Lincoln on the fake bills. One of the suspects passing the counterfeit $100 bills has been described as a well dressed black male.
If you receive a counterfeit bill, or have questions about the accuracy of a bill, please contact the Rockingham Police Department. Please alert your employees to use all means to verify a bill before accepting it.
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UTILITY BILL SCAM
Watch out for a new scam that touts a federal program that will supposedly pay your utility bills. The program isn't real. Instead, it's a ploy by scammers to steal your personal financial information and your money.
The scammers tell you that to participate in the program you need to provide your Social Security number and bank account information. In return they give you a bank account number that they claim will pay your utility bills-but the information is false and your utility bills haven't really been paid. And now the scammers have all the information they need to steal your money and even open new accounts in your name.
People report that scammers have contacted them about the fake program in person and through flyers, text messages and social media. At least one utility company has already discovered that hundreds of it's customers tried to pay their bills using the phony band account number given out by the scammers.
Never agree to provide your Social Security number, bank account number or other personal financial information to anyone who contacts you, no matter who they claim to be or how they claim they will help you.
If you've been the victim of a scam, file a complaint with the Attorney General's office on their website or call them at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM toll free within North Carolina. And you may also contact Detective Young at Rockingham Police Department (910)895-2468.
www.NCDOJ.GOV
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Fraud & Identity Theft
Are you a victim of fraud? Identity Theft? Internet crimes? If you think you may be a victim of one of these crimes, or if you have questions concerning these crimes, you may contact Detective Young. Listed below are some helpful links to other sites:
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National Night Out 2012
was held Tuesday, August 7, 2012
at Cole Plaza- Rockingham City Hall
See Pictures from 2012 Event
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Rockingham Police Department
311 East Franklin St
Rockingham, NC 28379
(910) 895-2468
Chief of Police Billy Kelly
Asst Chief Eddie Grant
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Richmond County's new service titled Code Red which notifies citizens via telephone if there is an emergency
happening in their neighborhood. Click Link to signup
for this service.
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| Click Here for RPD News Archives |
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| National Night Out 2013 was held August 6th, 2013 at Cole Plaza- City Hall |
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| Junior Police Academy July 2013-Click Here for More |
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| National Sex Offender Registry |
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| Threat Level Elevated Click Icon for More... |
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| Christmas On The Square- Click For More Images |
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| JPA Cadets with Officers of RPD |
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North Carolina's Move Over law protects State Troopers and other law enforcement officers and emergency and utility workers stopped along side our highways.
The Highway Patrol has taken steps to ensure more safety for citizens and troopers. In January, 2002, the state's Move Over law took effect requiring motorists, if they can safely do so, to move one lane away from any law enforcement or other emergency vehicle that is on the side of the highway. This law includes utility vehicles that are on the side of the road restoring electrical service during an unplanned event such as a hurricane or ice storm. The utility vehicles are required to have a flashing amber-colored light.
The law requires motorists slow down and approach cautiously when an emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder of the roadway with its lights flashing. Motorists are required to move over to another lane away from the emergency vehicle on a multi-lane highway or slow down on a two lane highway and can do so safely. Motorists must slow down while maintaining a safe speed. G.S. 20-157 (f).
A violation of the move over law will result in a mandatory fine of $250.
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