ASHEBORO NC March 25 2018 — Randolph County deputies will begin patrolling the North Carolina Zoo, beginning this Easter season.

A contract between the sheriff’s office and the zoo was approved March 19 by the county commissioners. Under the terms of the three-year deal, three full-time, experienced deputies will provide security at the zoo with two officers on site at all times during public hours.

Pat Simmons, zoo director, told the commissioners, “Attendance is starting to skyrocket and we need security. The sheriff has come through for us.”

Simmons added that the zoo staff prefers to use local deputies rather than a private security firm. The zoo, she said, will “pay the full freight,” including salaries and equipment.

The importance of having sworn security officers, Simmons said, can’t be overstated. “Having a uniform tamps down a lot of hot tempers.”

The zoo will be responsible for an initial equipment and vehicle payment of $39,768 per deputy in addition to salaries and fringe benefits totaling $56,265 per officer. During the second and third years of the contract, the zoo will pay ongoing salaries and benefits along with $2,000 per deputy for recurring expenses. Those expenses include additional uniforms, repairs to equipment and vehicle maintenance.

“Our goal is to ensure a safer and more secure setting for the North Carolina Zoological Park, as well as our surrounding community,” Sheriff Robert Graves said. “Both of our organizations feel this is a step in the right direction and for the community as a whole.”

The contract can be terminated by either party with a 60-day notice. Termination would require the sheriff’s office to reimburse the zoo a proportionate amount of the current value of the equipment and vehicles by a ratio of the time remaining on the contract. It would also mean the dissolution or absorption by the sheriff’s office of the three deputy positions.

Later, in an interview, Simmons said her staff had asked the sheriff’s office to conduct a security audit at the zoo. “We wanted the zoo to be a place that people feel comfortable coming to,” she said. “We have 24-hour ranger security, but our rangers are primarily EMTs to address medical concerns. We wanted to have police service beyond medical.”

Unlike rangers at other state parks, none of the zoo’s personnel are sworn law enforcement officers or carry weapons. To enhance security inside the park, the zoo staff decided to go to the next level of safety.

Simmons said the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which governs the zoo, fully supports the effort to have extra security at the facility. That includes providing the funds for the deputies.

“We looked at different options,” Simmons said, including private security firms. But having local officers “was the right model for us to go with.”

The enhanced security will have no effect on the current rangers, who continue to provide needed services, Simmons said. The deputies will use their patrol cars to get from one end of the zoo to the other. But they will also be walking the trails with guests and have access to the zoo’s golf carts.

“I’m looking forward to working with them,” Simmons said.

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