Abbi Overfelt
PARKTON — Parkton is seeking a police chief.
The department has begun advertising for the position, left vacant when Tammy Lowery resigned on March 5, for the 500-population, one blinking-light town sandwiched between N.C. 71 and U.S. 301. According to the advertisement set to run in The Robesonian on Sunday, April 21 and April 28, the position is that of a “working chief” who will be expected to oversee the department as well as answer calls for service.
Sgt. Lee Wilkerson, a member of the department since 2010, will be serving in the interim. The application period will close on May 5.
Lowery, who is married and has two small children, said the “long, odd hours” of the job grew to be taxing and she decided it was time for a change. She turned down offers from two local police departments for a position at a private security company, where she will serve Robeson County. There, Lowery said she feels she can provide people with a long-term sense of security while making more money.
“I’m still protecting people, I’m just doing it in a different way,” she said. “… That’s where my heart’s at. My heart is helping people.”
Lowery said that she hopes whoever takes her place as chief will “continue to meet the needs of the town’s businesses,” including being there when they open and close to ensure the safety of employees.
“I hope they’ll keep that one-on-one touch with the community,” she said, “and whoever they put in, I’ll help them out as much as I can.”
Lowery, a Robeson County native, came to Parkton a little more than five years ago after serving for nine years at the Hoke County Sheriff’s Office and four years at the Spring Lake Police Department.
Lowery said, with a laugh, that she would “miss her peoples.”
“I’m really going to miss the citizens of Parkton, they are very nice and very supportive of the Police Department,” she said.
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