About the Sheriff's Law Enforcement

Our Patrol deputies are the most visible face of our law enforcement operations here at the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office. They’re the ones wearing uniforms and patroling Ashe County in marked patrol cars 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patrol deputies are the first line of law enforcement response for the communities of Ashe County.

Ashe County deputies patrol a jurisdiction of over 430 square miles. Within that 430 square miles are over 27,000 residents creating 14,482 law enforcement calls for service last year.

Our Patrol division is broken into 4 shifts, supervised by two Patrol Lieutenants and four Patrol Sergeants, two of which are certified K9 handlers.

These deputies answer calls for service, perform crime prevention patrols, serve warrants, serve domestic violence protective orders and perform various other duties required by the public such as:

Traffic enforcement
Funeral escorts
Assisting Fire Departments and EMS at emergency scenes/Hazmat/Disaster/Severe Weather
Search & Rescue for lost/missing person(s)
Transporting individuals who have been involuntarily committed
Accompanying inmates at hospitals or transporting inmates to medical appointments
Assisting other law enforcement and governmental agencies
Community Outreach and education

Our Detectives investigate property crimes, assaults, fraud cases, homicides, sex crimes, and any other crimes covered by North Carolina General Statues. The Detective division consists of four full-time detectives and one part-time detective supervised by Detective Lieutenant Jeremey Williams.

Detective Jennifer DeSpain is our dedicated Special Victims detective. Detective DeSpain is a highly trained investigator who specializes in child exploitation, child pornography, Crimes against children, and sexual assaults against children and adults.

If we’re doing our jobs correctly, you’ll likely never see our Narcotics detectives or know who they are, but they are out in the field working hard daily to keep Ashe County safe.  These detectives are tasked with investigating and detecting narcotic violations, illegal alcohol sales and other illegal vices throughout Ashe County.

Our Narcotics detectives work closely with Federal, state and other local agencies right here in Ashe County and sometimes outside of our jurisdiction on more complex investigations and intelligence gathering operations on suspected drug dealers.

Our investigations can range from street-level illegal drug enforcemnt to long-term investigations focusing on mid-level and upper-level drug traffickers that impact Ashe County. Our detectives also often seize assets from drug dealers and testify in state and Federal court.

Ashe County Narcotics detectives undergo specialized training in search and seizure, surveillance, undercover operations, working with confidential informants and tactical skills.

The School Resource Deputy program assigns a sworn Ashe County Sheriff’s Deputy to each public school in Ashe County. This includes all three elementary schools, the middle and the high school.

Deputies assigned to the schools tend to become role models to the students and also act as a crime deterrent. The one-on-one relationship between the students and these deputies allows problems to hopefully be solved before they escalate into a law enforcement issue. They also work in conjunction with Ashe County School officials to maintain a safe and orderly environment at the school.

Each deputy assigned as a School Resource Deputy has attended the necessary training and certifications under the North Carolina Criminal Justice Standards and Training Division to serve as a School Resource Officer.

The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office only hires deputies that have attended and graduated from a recognized B.L.E.T. (Basic Law Enforcement Training) academy in North Carolina.

Ashe County Deputies must meet or exceed all basic, specialized and continuing education training as mandated by North Carolina Sheriff’s Training and Standards.

Our agency employs seven (7) North Carolina Criminal Justice Standards Division certified Criminal Justice Instructors who are responsible for conducting Mandatory In-Service Training for all sworn deputies annually.

At a minimum, all law enforcement personnel at the Ashe County Sheriff’s Office receive 24 mandatory hours/credits of in-service training, including driver training, firearms, special group sensitivity and other topics as directed by training and standards. This training is audited annually by North Carolina Sheriffs’ Standards and Training.

Supplemental training is provided based upon the deputy’s duty assignment within the office. Certain positions, like those in the Investigations Division or Narcotics Division, require additional training.

The Ashe County Sheriff’s Office is committed to delivering exceptional law enforcement training to prepare deputies for exemplary service to the community. We constantly strive to provide Ashe County with deputies who have had the most up-to-date information, tactics and training that is available.