MAXTON — Maxton is looking for a new police chief.
“I can confirm that he’s not with us,” interim Police Chief Kelly Jacobs said Monday, speaking about John Ruppe.
Town Manager Roosevelt Henegan received Ruppe’s letter of resignation on Jan. 15, according to a statement issued Tuesday by town government.
“In his letter, Ruppe stated, ‘[i]t has been a pleasure working for the Town of Maxton. I wish you all the best,’” the statement reads in part.
Jacobs, who was second in command at the department, was sworn in as interim police chief later on the day Ruppe resigned. He will fill the position until a new chief is found. Jacobs has more than 25 years of experience in law enforcement, according to the statement. He joined the police department on Jan. 24, 2019.
“We are in the process of drafting the job announcement for the chief of police position,” Henegan said Tuesday in the statement.
The announcement will appear in The Robesonian and on Indeed.com before the end of the week, he said. Jacobs will have to apply for the position in order to be considered a chief of police candidate.
Jacobs said the news came as a surprise to him because he was off duty when Ruppe left the Maxton department.
“Most definitely I wish him farewell, and you know, peace, and I hope that his journey takes him where he wants to go,” Jacobs said.
Ruppe could not be reached for comment.
“I enjoy working in the community and helping people in the community,” Ruppe said during a Maxton Board of Commissioners meeting in December 2018.
“I’m big on working with other (law enforcement) agencies as well,” he said. “I’m looking forward visiting the schools, working with the kids and doing whatever else to help the community.”
Ruppe, 52, served for four years as the chief of Woodland Police Department in Woodland before taking the job in Maxton.
He was named Maxton’s police chief on Dec. 10, 2018. He replaced Tammy Deese, who resigned in October 2018 to become a major with the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office. Ruppe came to Maxton with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and criminology, and more than 20 years experience in law enforcement. He was unanimously selected by Maxton’s leaders from among 42 applicants for the position.
Ruppe was one of 20 people in North Carolina to be selected to attend FBI Command College and Advanced Law Enforcement Certification, according to information released by the town of Maxton at the time Ruppe was hired. He also completed the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association training and received the Trilogy Award in 2017. Ruppe was one of two people selected to study Environment by Design at Liberty University in Virginia, by the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission.
