Troutman looking for new police chief following sudden resignation

TROUTMAN, N.C. — The town of Troutman is looking for a new police chief following the sudden resignation of Chief Tina Fleming.

Fleming, who had served as chief for 15 months, and another officer abruptly submitted their resignations on Wednesday.

In an email, Town Manager Ron Wyatt confirmed the resignations, though no reason has been given.

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Wyatt said the other officer who resigned had been with the department for less than a year as a full-time officer but had been a full or part-time officer in Troutman since 2014.

Wyatt said Troutman still has 18 officers on patrol and that a temporary chief would be named shortly. A search for a new police chief will begin in the near future.

Below is the town manager’s full statement:

“Based off recent uniform crime numbers available for law enforcement agencies in Iredell County the rate of coverage for full-time officers per 1,000 citizens is 1.4 for Iredell County. 2.1 for Mooresville 3.1 for Statesville and 5.3 for the Town of Troutman. Troutman also continues to provide part-time officer coverage as backup utilizing veteran officers from other agencies in part time roles as well. Troutman’s crime statistics remain some of the lowest in the region since the early 2000′s for violent crime and property. The Chief of Police of 15 months and one patrol officer of less than a year (but on his 3rd stint of employment as an officer with the Town of Troutman) tendered their resignations on March 17th 2021 and those resignations were accepted by the Town Manager. Troutman still has a total of 18 officers patrolling and investigating crime for the citizens. A temporary Chief will be named shortly and the search for a Police Chief will begin in the near future.”