under the sun
THE BRUNSWICK^BEACON
Thursday, June 25, 1987
B
New Police Chief Is No Stranger To Ocean Isle
BY TERRY POPE
It was a move that Bill and Sandra Ozmcnt had hoped
to make one day. They own a home at Ocean Isle Beach
and had planned to make It their permanent residence
whenever Bill retired.
"I got to come ten years sooner than 1 had planned,”
said Ozment. 43, who was sworn in last week as Ocean
Isle Beach's new police chief.
Ozmcnt, a Greensboro native, has owned a home on
Newport Street at Ocean Isle since 1983. He has worked
for the Greensboro Police Department for the past 20
years, working his way up from patrolman to lieutenant
and district coordinator.
“It wasn't easy to drive away from there last
Friday," Ozment said, “but there was also the excite
ment about coming here to Ocean Isle Beach."
Town commissioners welcomed Ozment to the job
last Tuesday afternoon, but they didn't have to tell him
much about the town. He recalls how it was love at first
sight on the couple's first visit to Ocean Isle seven years
ago, when they purchased a lot.
“When I crossed the bridge," Ozmcnt said, "I fell in
love with Ocean Isle. Its planning and the commitment of
the residents to make it such a nice place to live really
makes this town a special place.”
For the past 2V4 years, Ozment lias served as coor
dinator of police activities for a 39-square-miIe district in
the northwest section of Greensboro. The role required
that he serve as liason for the police department and the
citizens, schools, corporations, merchants and local
businessmen.
It was a role he enjoyed. In addition to offering
emergency help, Ozment said, the police department
should offer many services to the residents. Sometimes
residents just need help in finding needed services, he ad
ded.
“A lot of times, the goal wasn't just public relations,"
Ozment said. "It was like having a personal police
manager. They knew one-on-one that they could call Bill
Ozment and that I was there to help them."
It is an approach Ozment hopes to establish at Ocean
Isle Beach. In addition to serving as police chief, Ozment
will also be the town's superintendent of streets and
SEinitation, overseeing the contracted services that can
have an impact on the residents of Ocean Isle.
“It's the police working with the people," Ozment
said. “That's what makes us a better police department.
That has been my style throughout my career.”
Ozment was born, raised and educated in
Greensboro. Elxcept for a four-year stint in the U.S. Air
Force, he has always lived, there^ earning an associate
degree in police science from Guilford Technical In
stitute and a B.A. in administrative science with high
honors form Guilford College.
While stationed in North Dakota with the Air Force,
Ozment served with the air police. In October 1967, on his
return home, a recruitment drive to hire more officers by
the Greensboro Police Department caught his eye.
“Since that day, it has been a very rewarding ex
perience,” Ozment said.
STAff P»K>rO tr 71 MY port
cWef'tasf‘week!* Columbus. Ohio, whose family was vacationing at the beach last week. Ozment was sworn in as
The move to Ocean Isle from a larger police depart
ment offers few differences, he said, except for the
seasonal influx of vacationers and residents.
“It all Involves people—their concerns, the protec
tion of lives and property," he added. “The individual in
volvement is basically the same. I'm finding that I
average 12 to 14 hours a day at the department, even
though the number of residents is smaller. There's still a
lot to do."
For Sandra, his wife of 15 years, the timing was also
right for a move to Ocean Isle. She has worked for the
past 22 years with Southern Life Insurance headquarters
in Greensboro. But that business was recently purchased
and the company was shut down. She was left without a
job.
“She doesn't bite-id to become a housewife,” Ozment
said. “She also enjoys becoming involved in the com
munity.”
In Greensboro, Ozment became active in the com
munity, serving as past president of the Youth Services
Bureau, where problem juveniles are counseled and en
couraged to lead better lives. The goal was to provide
alternatives to juveniles who may be facing confusion or
a family crisis but end up in the hands of the law.
The Ozments and their poodle, Benji, are now calling
Ocean Isle home.
“It was easy in the decision making process .once I
was accepted by the town," Ozment said, “because of the
warmth and the friendly welcome we have received from
all of the people here.”
People at Ocean Isle, Ozment said, seem to enjoy
working together—the commissioners, the mayor, the
property owners association and residents—to make the
island a better place to live.
.“It's the right ingredients," Ozment said. "I like be-
_ Ing a part of that neighborhood.”
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