ROCKINGHAM — The total number of charges filed by the Rockingham Police Department continues to rise, while the number of arrests remains about the same.
That’s according to the department’s annual report, presented to the Rockingham City Council by Chief George Gillenwater on Feb. 10.
The report shows that officers filed around 1,700 criminal charges in the roughly 800 arrests made in 2025 — compared to fewer than 1,600 charges in around 780 arrests the previous year.
(NOTE: Specific figures are not given and our numbers are estimated based on bar graphs included in the report.)
The highest number of arrests in the past five years was around 900 in 2023.
The number of rapes, serious assaults and robberies in the city, while down from several previous years, increased from 2024.
Citations also remain relatively consistent.
Rockingham Police Chief George Gillenwater presents the department's annual report to the city council on Feb. 10.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Gillenwater attributes that to the department’s “proactive” policing approach.
“Our guys are out there,” the chief said. “We're not just responding to calls, we’re out there monitoring communities, responding to businesses, being proactive in investigations.”
Gillenwater said the department is also working with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, as well as state and federal agencies.
The department’s overall call volume dropped from the previous year from slightly more than 17,000 to around 15,400 (with 14,000 as the baseline). Gillenwater said he didn't know the reason for the decrease.
The report states that the department receives more complaints about narcotics than any other criminal activity, which resulted in nearly 140 arrests last year. RPD executed more than 50 search warrants in 2025, seizing more than 25 pounds in “illicit narcotics” and more than 70 firearms.
Although it happened earlier this year, Gillenwater bragged about the department’s seizure — in a joint effort — of one of the largest quantities of fentanyl in the county.
“It’s a big deal for our community,” Gillenwater said. “Drugs are still here, still prevalent. These guys are working hard to take them off the streets.”
Courtesy RPD
Gillenwater went on to brag about K-9 Mick, a 5-year-old Belgian Malinois the department obtained through K2 Solutions, handled by Detective Keeley Sutton.
“I had no idea what this dog was going to do for us,” Gillenwater said.
The report states Mick was deployed 16 times in local and regional cases, including:
The chief also touted the success of the department’s partnership with Flock Safety, which started in 2024.
RPD has license plate reader and fixed pan-tilt-zoom cameras strategically placed throughout the city, giving the department “the ability to enter pertinent information about a person or vehicle and then receive notification if that person or vehicle crosses the camera’s path.”
“It’s pretty impressive what these cameras lock onto,” Gillenwater said.
According to the report, the Flock Safety cameras produced the following results:
“I would say it’s paid for itself,” Gillenwater said, joking adding that City Manager Monty Crump might disagree.
Crump said he’s often asked by other municipalities about the pros and cons of the cameras.
“The pros are you catch criminals and crooks,” Crump said. “The con is you catch everybody else’s too,” which leads to officers being tied up in court and dealing with extradition. “Some of these cases can be pretty expensive if they come from out of town.”
Gillenwater said the department is currently fully staffed. However, he added that there are a few retirements coming in within the next year.
Most officers, with the exception of the younger members of the department, have obtained their Intermediate or Advanced Law Enforcement Certifications from the N.C. Criminal Justice Education Training and Standards Commission.
Officers also logged more than 2,500 hours of training in the areas of criminal investigations, traffic investigations, conduct and ethics, use of force, and leadership, according to the report.
Gillenwater also mentioned the department’s recent acquisition of a $750,000 tactical vehicle obtained through a grant.
The report is available on the department's website, rockinghampd.gov.
