Local Government 101: Who polices our towns?

📚 Local Government 101

🚔 New to Brunswick County? Here’s who actually polices our towns — because it depends on exactly where you live.

👮 THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE: The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Brian Chism, is the backbone of law enforcement here. With roughly 370 deputies, it patrols the whole county in eight zones, runs the jail in Bolivia, and handles investigations, court security, and the county’s 911 dispatch center.

Seven of the county’s 19 towns have no police department of their own and rely entirely on the Sheriff’s Office: Belville, Bolivia, Calabash, Carolina Shores, Sandy Creek, St. James, and Varnamtown.

That includes us. Carolina Shores has no sworn law enforcement of its own — the town relies on the Sheriff’s Office, and its Code Compliance Division (non-sworn officers) handles code issues, not crimes. Calabash is patrolled by the Sheriff’s Office too. The Sheriff’s Office keeps a substation in Calabash at 10176 Beach Drive, handy for things like gun permits — concealed carry and pistol purchase permits are handled there and at the main office in Bolivia and a Leland office.

🏖️ TOWN POLICE: Several beach towns have their own departments — Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Shallotte, Holden Beach, Oak Island, Southport, and Leland all run town police. If you live in one of those towns, your town officers are your first call for local issues, and the Sheriff’s Office backs them up when needed. Across the state line, North Myrtle Beach has its own city police department.

🛣️ STATE TROOPERS: The N.C. State Highway Patrol covers the highways — U.S. 17, N.C. 130, N.C. 179, and the rest. So a traffic stop on the highway will usually be a trooper, while the same stop on a town street will be a town officer or a deputy.

📞 What to do: in an emergency, always call 911 — the county dispatch center routes it to the right agency, so you don’t have to figure out whose jurisdiction you’re in. For non-emergencies, the Sheriff’s Office can be reached at 910-253-2777. And if you’re new here, it’s worth knowing which agency covers your street before you need them — especially whether you’re in a town with its own police or in Sheriff’s Office territory.