BY STEPHEN H. COWLES/Contributing Writer
stephen.cowles@tidewaternews.com

NEWSOMS—The people of Newsoms should rest easier now that the Town Council has hired a part-time police officer.

Douglas Davis, who also works as a full-time officer in Crewe in Nottoway County, began working in early January and is paid $15 an hour.

“We’ve had a part-time police officer for several years, starting in the 1990s, which we shared with Boykins over the years,” said Mayor Harvey Porter. “Then we went out on our own. We have to be prepared for the future.”

Council members looked for applicants by advertising in a publication offered by the Virginia Municipal League.

“But we never got what we considered an outstanding applicant,” Porter said. “This time it did turn up. We did the background check, and it turned out he was very well qualified.”

Davis is responsible for enforcing all town codes and traffic violations. The Southampton County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police also provide the town with protection.

“We have him on a 15- to 20-hour-per-week basis,” said the mayor. “We have always had money for budgeting ‘an officer’. It’s a line item for each year.”

“It appears to be working fine,” Porter continued. “He recently took in a domestic disturbance and traffic violations.”