LUMBERTON — Burnis Wilkins, a law enforcement officer with five decades of experience, has been cramming this week for his next assignment: serving as sheriff of Robeson County.
Wilkins, who won election in a five-person race on May 8, has spent the week in Chapel Hill at the Sheriffs’ Leadership Institute, which is sponsored by the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association.
For Wilkins, it is the first week of a four-week course that is spread out over two years. He said there were 39 sheriffs there, including all who are newly elected.
The classes cover such high-liability areas as staff certifications, civil process, jails, budgeting, policy and procedures, emergency management, and much more.
“During this first week, I have learned that the office of sheriff is paramount in providing public safety to all residents of the county,” he said. “The contacts and other resources I was introduced to will be invaluable in my efforts to bring a better quality of life to the citizens of Robeson County.”
Classes ran Monday through Friday, beginning at 8 a.m. each day and continuing until 8 p.m.
Wilkins, who will be sworn in on Dec. 3 at the Givens Performing Arts Center at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, also announced his leadership team this week.
Wilkins’ chief deputy will be Maj. Howard Branch, who will be Car. No. 2; Maj. Tammy Deese will be in charge of Operations; Maj. Damien McLean will be in charge of Criminal Investigations; and Maj. Anthony Thompson will supervise the jail.
”While my command staff is racially diverse, they were actually selected based on their proven work history, education, training and experience and job performance as I have witnessed throughout much of my career,” Wilkins said. “I look forward to leading and working alongside a group of dedicated law enforcement professionals in our quest to make Robeson County a safe place to call home.”
He has to hire about 10 deputies/detectives and 18 detention officers, Wilkins said. As part of the effort to hire detention officers, he worked recently with Robeson Community College to establish an ad hoc course to get jailers trained.
Wilkins said he has dismissed only two former employees of the Sheriff’s Office, which has about 220 people on staff.
“Every employee of the Sheriff’s Office has been personally interviewed by me over the last few months,” he said. “I spoke of my visions and what I expect of them as they serve the citizens of Robeson County. … I am in the process of hiring new faces to take on the challenge of ridding our county of crime and grime.”
He said at the swearing-in ceremony he will introduce a new look and design for the office’s patrol cars.
Following is information on his top officers:
Howard Branch is a 25-year law enforcement officer who began his career in 1993 as a jailer and became a deputy the following year. He has served as a detective, lieutenant and since 2007 as a major in charge of Operations and as chief of detectives.
“My goal … is to continue to promote the professionalism within the Sheriff’s Office,” Branch said in a statement. “I will strive to build trust between the citizens of our county and the officers that serve them and ultimately provide excellence in service while working efficiently to enforce laws and protect our citizens.”
Tammy Deese recently resigned as chief of the Maxton Police Department, which she joined as a 19-year-old in 1995. She has been chief since 2012, overseeing a staff of eight full-time employees, four part-time, and seven dispatchers.
“I am beyond excited to work for Sheriff Burnis Wilkins to put into place his plan and vision to make Robeson County a safer county …,” she said in a statement. “He shared this plan and vision with me a year ago. I feel that my education, training and experience for the past 23 years in law enforcement has prepared me for a position in the command staff. …
“We are all very excited to develop new programs in our communities. … We are all willing to listen to ideas that will make our communities better. We at the Sheriff’s Office can’t do this alone. It is going to take a partnership with us, the communities and the businesses that we serve in our county.”
Damien McLean received his degree in Criminal Justice from The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, his Basic Law Enforcement Certification from Sandhills Community College, and a master’s in Administration of Criminal Justice and Securities from the University of Phoenix.
He started at the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office in 2004, and was promoted in 2009 to detective in the Major Crimes Division. In August 2014, McLean was transferred to the Homicide Division. He became a sergeant in 2015 and a lieutenant in 2017.
“I look forward to the opportunities of advancing the Investigations Division under Sheriff Wilkins’ administration,” he said in a statement. “I plan to provide more training opportunities for our investigators. The training will enhance the investigators’ abilities to become more proactive and develop stronger cases for prosecution in our court system. The Major Crimes Division will be more aggressive with investigating criminal activities.
“I am excited about plans of strengthening our working relationships with other local, state and federal partners.”
Anthony Thompson began his law enforcement career in 1984 with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, and has worked for three sheriffs, Hubert Stone, Glenn Maynor and Kenneth Sealey. He has held the ranks of detective sergeant, lieutenant, captain and is currently a major and chief of detectives.
Thompson will be the interim sheriff for a couple of days because Sealey will retire on Nov. 30, and then will become the jail administrator.
“This will be another chapter in my law enforcement career that I will strive to do the best job I can do to help people in spite of the situation they are facing,” he said.
