NORWAY, S.C.  – Getting adequate law enforcement protection in the wake of the resignation of the town’s only full-time police officer was on the minds of residents and officials during Norway Town Council’s October meeting.

Attending the meeting to hear those concerns were Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams and OCSO Maj. Clark Whetstone.

Norway’s Capt. Curtis Mizell resigned in September, leaving the town with only one part-time officer.

One of those attending the meeting was Norway business owner Cindy Williams, who said her business had been burglarized six times in the 19 years she has owned it, with four of those burglaries occurring within the past year. Williams was not happy about the handling of the most recent burglary by the OCSO.

“The alarm went off about two weeks ago, and I called OCSO to meet me at the business. From the time I called dispatch, it took 40 minutes for a deputy to arrive. You could see that the glass doors had been broken and that the door had been pried open. There was merchandise scattered all over the floor,” Williams said. “But the deputy said that he had somebody in his vehicle that had hit a deer and that he would have to take her home first and then he would be back.”

She continued, “In the meantime, here I am sitting at my burglarized business at 3 a.m. not knowing if the criminal or criminals are still around waiting to jump on me. I guess I just wasn’t as important as a dead deer? I had to point out the merchandise on the floor to the deputy.”

Williams said a few days later, she was driving on St. John’s Avenue and saw two individuals with two bikes that were stolen from her residence.

“I called 911 for a deputy. The two individuals, males about 18-20 years old, were cussing and carrying on so loudly that dispatch could hear them over the cell phone,” she said. “I made the call at 6:36 p.m. on Saturday. At 7:31 p.m., I called dispatch again because no deputy had shown up, and dispatch said they could not tell me when a deputy would get here. At 9:11 p.m., a deputy had still not shown up. In fact, no one called or came to the scene until Monday morning.”

“As a taxpayer, I’m quite concerned,” Williams said. “Norway is a small, rural town, and I understand that the town cannot provide police coverage 24-7. And, I know the OCSO is stretched to the limit for coverage as well. But, I could have died during either of these instances. What if those young men had turned on me? That is just not acceptable.”

The business owner said the town “must provide for its citizens, and the OCSO must play an active role as well. If we are going to rely on deputies for coverage, then the deputies need to be here and need to be attuned to our needs. My son has nightmares about the burglaries. He wants me to sell the business and move away. There are some bad apples around Norway, and the OCSO needs to find them and remove them from our area.”

Sheriff Larry Williams responded by apologizing for the deputy’s actions. He asked Williams for a copy of the incident report so he could discuss the situation with the deputy.

“ ... as the sheriff of Orangeburg County, let me apologize to you for the stupidity of the responding officer on Sept. 23,” Sheriff Williams said. “He was insensitive to your needs. I try to make certain that my officers show common sense and common courtesy to all citizens. I did not know about this incident until tonight, but it is in my hands now and I will correct the situation.”

He said on the night in question, statements should have been taken as well as crime scene photographs.

“And, you should have been contacted by our Victims’ Advocate officer. You and I both will meet with the officer because the officer needs to understand and face the citizen he left stranded,” Williams said.

Councilman Greg Covington asked how many deputies are on staff, and the sheriff said there are 68.

“I know you could probably use twice that many deputies, but we have to work with what we’ve got. Why isn’t it possible to have one deputy permanently assigned to the western area of the county for every shift?” Covington asked. “One that couldn’t be diverted to the eastern portion unless there was some big emergency?”

Sheriff Williams said Lt. Marty Carigg is assigned to the western port of the county, but when he is off, there is no other deputy in the area.

Sheriff Williams and Maj. Whetstone agreed to alter the scheduling so that a deputy will be in the area on a more regular basis. The sheriff suggested that he, Whetstone, Norway Town Council, interested residents and business owners meet in about 10 days to discuss the issue and determine ‘key holders” in the town who would notify the OCSO concerning law enforcement issues.

For additional information about the time and location of the meeting, call Norway Town Hall at 803-263-4300.

Williams closed his remarks by saying, “We are living in a lost society, where there is increased crime. People have minimal respect for themselves and none for you. We actually need about six full-time deputies in this area to check properties and ride these country roads.”

The sheriff said Orangeburg County does not emphasize public safety enough.

“Things we say seem to fall on deaf ears. Starting tomorrow, we will assign at least two full-time deputies to this area, and then we all will meet. Hopefully, we will have about 300 people show up for this meeting. I have talked about this idea with (Orangeburg County Councilman) Heyward Livingston. The criminals know of our staffing problems, and they just wreak havoc,” Williams said.

He said the Town of Vance is looking into the possibility of hiring off-duty deputies for law enforcement purposes.

“As I understand it, they are considering paying the deputy and the county will pay the liability insurance. Nothing has been finalized,” the sheriff said. “This is just in a planning stage, but I will keep you informed if you are interested.”

Mayor Brad Fogle asked if it helped or hurt the OCSO’s response time if the town had a police officer on duty, and Williams said it should make no difference.

When resident Sandy Blake asked Mayor Brad Fogle why Mizell had resigned, the mayor said he would not comment until he has consulted the town attorney.

In other business:

* The town’s September financial statement showed total assets of $28,237.19 and total liabilities and capital of $28,237.19. Total revenues for September were $21,851.08, and total expenses were $21,909.08, leaving a net income of (-$58.00). Public Works Department total assets were $34,902.36 and were balanced against total liabilities and capital of the same amount. Total revenues for the month were $19,943.31, and total expenditures were $19,996.92, leaving a net income of (-$53.61).

Sandy Blake asked if all of the town’s bookkeeping issues had been resolved, and Fogle said the September statement was as accurate as possible. “The auditors want us to switch to another system of bookkeeping, a General Accounting Practices form of bookkeeping,” he said. “But it will cost us approximately $6,000. The Municipal Association will help us convert, but since it is so late in the year, we are looking at this for next year. Right now, we operate on a cash basis, and converting to this system will make it easier for the auditors. However, before we can convert, we need to talk with C.C. McGregor and Co. and our payroll service. When we do convert, it should cut our auditing expense in half.”

* It was announced that Norway will receive an $80,000.00 Budget and Control Board grant for water and sewer upgrades and repairs. This will include fire hydrants, water level indicators in the water tanks, a valve map of the town’s water system and other projects.

Councilwoman Bonnie Fogle said she received several complaints of dogs roaming lose. She reminded residents there is a leash law in Norway. Dogs are to be under the control of their owners and must wear a collar displaying the owner’s name and a current rabies tag. By the end of October, traps will be set to catch roaming animals, Fogle said, and the animals will be taken to the county shelter.

T&D Correspondent Sherryl M. Peters can be reached by e-mail at boykinbaby@surrealestate.com.

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