Distinguished Police Officer honoree is dedicated to community policework in Four Oaks

By RANDY CAPPS

Stephen Anderson was sworn in as Four Oaks Police Chief on March 9, 2015, and a week or so later, a writer from what was then known as the Four Oaks Journal was in his office to write a story for the first edition of the new magazine in town (May 2015).

Anderson spoke of his small town roots in nearby Grantham, his commitment to community policing and how you “could take a peaceful approach to solving a big problem.”

Fast forward more than eight years, and Anderson is still approaching police work that way. That communityfocused approach is why he’s this year’s Johnston Now Honors Distinguished Police Officer Award winner.

“Our community has grown and flourished a whole lot quicker than I imagined,” he said. “As a chief you set goals as to where you want to see the department go as the town grows, and my end-ofcareer (goals)? I’ve changed those twice because of how fast we’re growing. But we still have that small town feel, and community policing is where it’s at.”

The department has grown from five officers to 11 now, with one being a part-time code enforcement officer, but the priorities haven’t changed all that much.

“My door when I walk in, it’s open,” he said. “And it’s open for anybody. … It’s like a lot of anything you do in life. You can focus on the negative, or you can focus on the positive. Yeah, there may be a handful of negatives, but don’t let it blind you to the amount of positives. Folks really do appreciate what you do. I have kids growing up in this world, so we have to have law enforcement.

“That’s the thing that those of us who have been around for a while, when a younger officer comes in, no matter how they might have been raised, we try to show them the proper way to work from your heart. Not always just from your mind. Sometimes, people are having a rough day. And it doesn’t always have to end with a ticket. You can give a warning. Sometimes, open your ears a little bit and listen instead of talking so much.”

One of the passages from the 2015 article reads: “We just want people to know we’re there for them. They can call us. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing — they could just need someone to talk to. … In these bigger towns and cities, they’re so fast paced that sometimes, before you get a chance to think about what’s going on, it’s all over. Here, it’s not that way. Being able to know everybody and call folks by name means a lot to me.”

Plenty of things are different in Four Oaks than they were in 2015, but that at least, remains the same.

“I still love what I do,” he said. “Been doing it 17 years now, and I still love it.”