news-record.com

We got a message from an upset reader over the weekend regarding this story in the Wilmington Star News about a crackdown on sex establishments in Brunswick County.

The story mentions that 10 undercover detectives from Greensboro were involved and the reader, who didn’t leave his name, was curious about who paid the bill for our officers to participate.

Simply put, Brunswick County did and paying for out-of-town officers to participate in local sting operations is a fairly routine practice with many law enforcement agencies.

The reason is because in many cases, officers have to infiltrate businesses under investigation in order to collect evidence.

It helps to have some unfamiliar faces involved in order not to blow the cover of the investigation.

That was the case there, Asst. Chief Dwight Crotts with Greensboro police tells me.

Plus, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have the experience conducting such large-scale sex investigation as Greensboro police, and asked for help, Crotts said.

Crotts said Greensboro officers spent one night in Brunswick County for the operation. Officials there paid for room and board and all meals for Greensboro detectives.

Greensboro police paid for their own gas to and from the coast.