LAURINBURG — While Laurinburg Police Chief Darwin “Duke” Williams is retiring soon, that isn’t going to stop him from continuing to be involved in the community.

It was announced last week that Williams would be retiring at the end of August after 26 years in law enforcement, but he maintains that the community will continue to see him.

“I’ve always had a love for the youth,” Williams said. “I volunteered with Parks and Recreation for 20 years … coaching is something that’s in my blood and a coach is more than a just a coach — you’ve got to teach these kids life skills.”

Williams added that he’s already been approached to talk to local youth through churches and organizations and is looking forward to being able to do it more often. He also said that he’ll still be involved in community events and partake in the various activities that are put on in the county.

“A lot of people have come up to me saying don’t retire and that is the part that makes it sad,” Williams said. “I love this community and I’ve gotten a lot in return. So I just tell them I’m not going anywhere, I’m still going to be in Laurinburg.”

He added that he’s been a part of Shop with a Cop and National Night Out as police chief and, just because he will no longer hold the title, that doesn’t mean he won’t participate.

Over his years in law enforcement, Williams says he has seen a lot of change in crime as well as in the people and their interactions with officers. He said that people change every decade on how they view life and, when he first began, people would stop and speak to officers regularly — now, due to the perception, that doesn’t happen anymore.

“There’s this nationwide perception that we law enforcement officers have created for ourselves,” Williams said. “There’s good and bad in every profession and you can’t judge the entire profession based on one person. We’re still working on maintaining a good and healthy relationship with people in the community.”

Williams added he knows his staff is prepared enough that he will be able to leave without worry and they’ll be able to take on the potential of extra responsibilities during the interim of hiring a new chief.

“I’m a firm believer in training staff beyond their duties and, in this case, it will help in the interim,” Williams said. “But I’m also a believer in the fact of you don’t have to be in charge to be a leader and all members of the team are leaders.”

He added that he’ll miss not only those who work in the police station but all city employees, since there is a family atmosphere between them all.

Williams credits God in giving him the direction to retire, adding on that it’s time for him to let someone else begin to take over.

“He’s been good to me my entire life and I always said I was going to embrace it when it was time for me to retire,” Williams said. “Now I’ve got to let the next generation take over.”

While he doesn’t know exactly what retirement holds for him, Williams does have faith in whomever will be taking over for him at the police department and who will begin filling the positions.

“It’s time for the next generation to take their turn,” Williams said. “And I fully believe that we should be committed to giving them the right tools in order for them to be successful. It’s their turn now.”

Reach Katelin Gandee at 910-506-3171 or at [email protected]

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Katelin Gandee

Staff writer