03/19/2024
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This week was full of training in the mother county for some law enforcement officers. The uniformed patrol division of the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office attended Pursuit and Precision Driving and Forced Vehicle Stops this week conducted by the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office Specialized Training Unit.

“We utilized the expertise and experience of Sergeant Phillip Collins and Trooper Bill Rogers from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to assist me and Major Larry Guyton and Sergeant Barry Pait in the presentation and delivery of this important training.” Sergeant Gary Turlington said. He added, “The objective is to provide pertinent and realistic training for both our agencies to better serve the citizens in our region of the state by enhancing the knowledge and proficiency of specialized tactics and procedures to expand the margins of safety for everyone.”

Sgt. Turlington explained Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene and Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker want their two agencies to work together to better serve those they are charged to protect.

“Certainly more educated and proficient deputies and officers are more professional officers during the times of crisis and peril,” Sgt. Turlington started.

The training conducted is as realistic as it can be made with the intent of presenting scenarios for the practice, proficiency, and stress inoculation for officers.

“The cone courses are only a fraction of the training conducted here this week at the Curtis Brown Airfield’s taxiways and the Bladen County First Responders Training Facility,” Sgt. Turlington said.

Logistical support was provided by the Bladen Community College and Town of Elizabethtown management.

Sgt. Turlington expresses his gratitude to Bladen Community College and to the Town of Elizabethtown. He added, “The hospitality offered to these attending officers from here and abroad by Mr. Mitch Taylor from the Airport Operations cannot go unmentioned.”

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