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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| Pictured, from left to right, Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly, Capt. Eddie Grant, Lt. Richard Greene, Det. Shawn Paxton, SPO Marcus Ricks, Sgt.Glen Harris & City Manager Monty Crump. |
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Recent Promotions at Rockingham Police Department- March 27, 2013
Lieutenant Eddie Grant was promoted to Captain and Assistance Police Chief.
Sergeant Richard Greene was promoted to Lieutenant/Patrol Commander.
Shawn Paxton, who is currently in the Patrol Division, was promoted to the Detective Division.
Officer Marcus Ricks, who is currently on the traffic team, was promoted to Senior Patrol Officer and will be responsible for the daily activities of the traffic team.
Glen Harris, who is currently Senior Patrol Officer for the night shift, was promoted to Sergeant and will move to the day shift.
Other promotions include Officers Ray Morton and Officer Ronald Brigman promoted to Senior Patrol Officers. SPO Morton is SPO for night shift D team and SPO Brigman is SPO for night shift C team. Both officers, SPO Morton along with SPO Brigman, are also FTOs, Field Training Officers.
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| Police Chief Billy Kelly; Major Mike Cockman; City Manager Monty Crump |
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Major/Asst.Chief Michael Cockman Retires after 26 years with Rockingham Police Dept
Major/Asst. Chief Michael Louis Cockman of the Rockingham Police Department has retired after more than 26 years in law enforcement. Major Cockman was promoted to Major/Assistant Chief of Police on April 12, 2013.
Major Cockman had been a police officer for 26 years with the Rockingham Police Department. He was a Military Police officer in the United States Army and earned his Advance Law Enforcement Certificate from the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Division.
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Rockingham Police Department's Units Get New Look - Designed by Officers of RPD
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| Sgt. Matt Baldwin |
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SPO Matt Baldwin Promoted to Patrol Sergeant
Senior Patrol Officer Matt Baldwin has been promoted as Night Shift D Patrol Sergeant. He has served with the Police Department since 2004. Baldwin has worked as a K-9 officer as well as in the Narcotics Division.
Baldwin is currently working on his intermediate certification from the North Carolina Training Standards Division.
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Long Drive Community Project
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| Left to Right are Major Mike Cockman(Retired), Chief Deputy Mark Gulledge, Sheriff James Clemmons, Police Chief Billy Kelly & Lt. Eddie Grant |
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In the summer of 2012 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 of the Police Department and the Sheriff's Office handing out school supplies, along with hotdogs, chips and refreshments to the young residents. Officers of both departments encouraged the youth to remain in school and do well in their academics.
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| Police Chief Billy Kelly |
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Rockingham Police Department's New Chief of Police
March 31st, 2012
by Mallory Brown/Richmond County Daily Journal
Billy Kelly has been appointed Chief of Police for the Rockingham Police Department effective April 5, 2012.
City Manager Monty Crump issued a press release on Friday about the final decision:
“I am pleased to announce that I have appointed Interim Chief Billy Kelly to become Chief of Police of the Rockingham Police Department effective April 5, 2012,” Crump said.
Kelly has been employed with Rockingham Police Department for almost 20 years. He was hired by RPD in November 1992 and has risen through the ranks from patrol, investigations and supervisor to become Police Chief, the city manager said. Kelly has both an associate degree and bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and is currently enrolled at NC State University in the Law Enforcement Management Program, with expected graduation in March 2013. Kelly is currently the School Director for Basic Law Enforcement Training at Richmond Community College and is the district liaison for the Governor’s Highway Safety Program. He also holds his Advance Law Enforcement Certificate.
Read more: Richmond County Daily Journal - Rockingham names a new police chief
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Grant promoted to Patrol Commander of Rockingham Police Department
by Mallory Brown/Richmond County Daily Journal
Staff photo by Mallory Brown | Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly pins Lieutenant Eddie Grant during Thursday's ceremony at City Hall.
Sergeant Eddie Grant of the Rockingham Police Department was recently promoted to Lieutenant over the Patrol Division.
City officials and several members of the Rockingham Police Department attended a pinning ceremony at City Hall on Thursday in honor of Grant.
City Manager Monty Crump was among those to congratulate the new Patrol Commander.
“We’re really proud of him and the department as a whole,” Crump said of Grant, who will have spent 20 years with the police department in February. Crump added that Grant was well thought of by the other officers and brought a lot of experience to the department.
Police Chief Billy Kelly said he has spent his entire career at the department with Grant, including going to school with him.“This position is not anything given,” Kelly said. “It’s earned.” Chief Kelly said Grant has done very well with the department as a sergeant, and will continue do just as well as Lieutenant and Patrol Commander.
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Rockingham Police Department Promotes
July 12, 2012
Pictured from left to right are Major/Assistant Chief Mike Cockman(Retired), Donavan Young, who was promoted from Detective to Detective Sergeant, Doris Asbury, who was promoted from Communications Operator to Communications Supervisor, Andy Ansley who was promoted from Patrol Officer to Patrol Sergeant, and Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly.
Rockingham Police Department recently made a series of promotions within the agency. Pictured from left to right are Major/Assistant Chief Mike Cockman, Donavan Young, who was promoted from Detective to Detective Sergeant, Doris Asbury, who was promoted from Communications Operator to Communications Supervisor, Andy Ansley who was promoted from Patrol Officer to Patrol Sergeant, and Rockingham Police Chief Billy Kelly.
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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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| K9 Officer Sgt. Ansley & Student Marcus Crank |
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K-9 Officer serves as mentor
by Kelli Easterling/Richmond County Daily Journal
Many senior students in Richmond County have been working on their senior projects for months, but Rockingham Police Department K-9 Officer Sgt. Andy Ansley doubts any of them have put in as much time as the young man he’s been mentoring.
“We’re only required to do 13 hours to get credit for the project,” said Marcus Crank, student at Leak Street High School.
Crank has completed almost 40 hours of work with the department.
“I got a 97 on my research report, the highest grade in my class,” said Crank.
Seniors are required to choose a career field on which to complete a senior project. Part of the project includes finding a mentor in the field and working with them.
Crank chose the K-9 law enforcement field, and liked it so much he’s spent nearly every weekend working with Sgt. Ansley since they met a couple of months ago.
“I chose to do my project on this because I love animals,” said Crank. “Learning about what kind of knowledge and training takes for a dog to qualify as a K-9 really interested me.”
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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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| Junior Police Academy Coming in July 2013-Click Here for More |
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| National Night Out 2013 is August 6th, 2013 at 6-9 pm Cole Plaza- City Hall |
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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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