P.D. History

History of the Rockwell Police Department

The Rockwell Police Department, as it is now known, was officially started in July of 1979 after the Town had received an LEAA grant to fund an officer and a patrol vehicle. With this funding a 1979 Ford LTD II Patrol Car was purchased. An officer was hired by the

Sheriff and would be a sworn Deputy assigned to work Rockwell. He would be supervised by the Sheriff's Department and he would work under the chain of command of Sheriff John Stirewalt.

The first officer hired was Roderick J. Lapham who served from July 1979 until April 1981. David Holyfield served from May 1981 until July 1983. Clyde Adams was assigned as a Special Deputy to assist David Holyfield in Sept. 1982 on a volunteer basis. James Rary served from August 1983 until June 1984. Rockwell abandoned the Sheriff's Agreement and started their own Auxiliary Police Department in July of 1984, headed by Chief James L. "Jim" Bost. This started out as an all volunteer agency, with Chief Bost and 3 reserve officers serving the Town of Rockwell. Chief Bost served the town until health issues prompted his retirement in 1996.

At that time, Sheriff Martin was asked to again assume the duties of law enforcement in Rockwell. This was done with Special Deputies doing volunteer patrols on weekends for several years, being supervised by Special Deputy Lieutenants James Jones, George Cress, and Hugh Bost Jr. In October of 1998, the Town of Rockwell officially hired "off-duty" deputies to provide more patrols during the weekdays and continued police activities under the sheriff's agreement.

New Police Building

A new police facility was completed in 2021 and is on S. Cherry St. This facility was began in the late Summer of 2020. The building's design and construction was conceptualized and overseen by current Chief of Police Hugh W. Bost, Jr., and accommodates every need of a modern day police department. It serves as a model for design and layout of a floor plan which eliminates work-flow barriers, allowing officers of the Town as well as visiting agencies to be more efficient with their duties, which in turn provides an elevated level of service to the community.

Dedication of Previous Facility

From 1999 until 2021 the Rockwell Police Department has operated out of the Jim L. Bost Law Enforcement Center, which was named for Retired Chief Jim Bost, and sat on the corner of U.S. Hwy 52 and S. Cherry St. The building served other purposes prior to 1999 and was adapted to adequately meet the needs of the police department at the time.

Establishment as a Municipal Police Department

In 2000, Hugh Bost, Jr. was hired as a full-time Sheriff's Deputy that was assigned to the Town of Rockwell. This continued until September 2001, when Rockwell Police Department was reestablished as a municipal police department and he was sworn as the Chief of Police. At that time, Rockwell began the investigation of traffic crashes within our municipal limits. Rockwell utilized a sheriff's agreement using off-duty deputies as officers and provided the sheriff the use of Rockwell Police Dept. as a satellite office in Rockwell for eastern Rowan County.

Officers and Equipment

On September 2002, Rockwell was awarded a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing, to fund a full time officer.

On October 2002, Rockwell received a grant award from North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program to fund a new traffic officer position, which included patrol vehicle, equipment, and the officer's salary and benefits.

On September 2004, Rockwell hired another full-time patrol officer, and funded the patrol vehicle, equipment, and salary.

In October 2004, Rockwell received a military surplus 4 wheel drive pickup truck from N.C. Law Enforcement Support Services. This vehicle was refurbished by the inmates at Piedmont Correctional Facility for the police department at no cost as part of their rehabilitation program

In January 2005, Rockwell began a Reserve Division where officers were sworn for Rockwell who could offer volunteer services as Reserve Officers to assist our full-time staff.

In October 2006, Rockwell was awarded a Special Traffic Safety Grant from North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program, which funded a second traffic safety vehicle and Officer for our agency. This addition provided a total of four full-time Tpersonnel and a chief to provide 24 hour coverage to our community.