Raccoon County Sheriff's Department

The Raccoon County Sheriff's Department is the local law enforcement agency of Sheldon, North Carolina.

## History

The first sheriff of Sheldon, North Carolina was an old African-American lawman by the name of "Big John Robinson" (who was rumored to be an illegitimate son of Bass Reeves) He was chosen for this position because he was skilled with a firearm and had a sharp mind. From 1905 until 1921, Big John made sure Sheldon was a safe place.

In 1919, the department received their first patrol cars, a fleet of 5 1919 Ford Model Ts, all of them were painted black. Horses were still kept around for beat officers but soon they were later put out to pasture as soon as more cars arrived on the scene.

The 1920s - 1940s was a colossal time for the department when they had to deal with a local crime family, led by a Sicilian mob boss named Federico Giordano. Giordano ran several moonshine operations around the hills of Raccoon County and killed anyone who got in his way. No matter how hard the department tried, Giordano could never be prosecuted. In 1931, the paint scheme of the patrol cars changed from all black to grey and black when the department received its new vehicles from Chevrolet. When FDR repealed prohibition in 1933, most of Giordano's moonshining business went bust, but he still had a good number of rackets going ranging from extortion, illegal gambling, bookmaking, kidnapping, and corruption.

His crimes got so bad, he even murdered Sean Mulligan, the current sheriff who was trying to gather evidence against him. With the sheriff position open, he used Joe Ross, the chief deputy whom he had in his pocket, to run for Sheriff. Since it was an election year, he "convinced" Ross to become the town's acting Sheriff as well as running for the position. But Giordano didn't reckon on Frank Beaudry, a highly decorated war hero who returned from the Army to run for sheriff. Mulligan was an old friend of his and vowed to bring Giordano to justice, in which he did.

Giordano saw that Beaudry was a huge problem and ordered many of his capos to eliminate him, but it wasn't until too late when the capos saw what they were up against. Some of them met their fates whilst others he spared in exchange for their testimony. After a huge gunfight, Giordano finally surrendered and was arrested. Beaudry won the election and held on to his position in office for the next 52 years.

In 1949, the paint scheme of the department's vehicles changes from grey and black to the L.A.P.D. inspired Black and White.

## Ranks

Unlike most Sheriff Departments in the United States, the RCSD seems to only have 6 ranks due to the small size of the county.

### **SHERIFF**

The Sheriff is the county’s highest, usually elected, law-enforcement officer. He/she is allowed to serve 4-year terms and go in for re-election as many times as he/she wants. He/she carries 5 stars on the shoulders of his/her uniform. The Sheriff's uniform consists of a Dark Brown cowboy hat, a light tan shirt with a black tie, a black name tag, a gold 5 point star Sheriff's Badge, a gun belt, Dark brown pants with a black stripe running along the sides of the legs, and black shoes.

### **CHIEF DEPUTY**

The Chief Deputy is the highest-ranking appointment law-enforcement officer in the department and is the Sheriff's 2nd in command. He/She reports directly to the sheriff and oversees the department’s overall operations. He/she carries 4 stars on the shoulders of his/her uniform. The Chief Deputy's uniform consists of a Dark Brown octagonal peaked police hat (if a woman is in this position, it's a trooper like campaign hat in the same color), a light tan shirt with a black tie, a black name tag, a gold 6 point star badge, a gun belt, Dark brown pants with a black stripe running along the sides of the legs, and black shoes.

### **PRECINCT SERGEANT**

Is in charge of a precinct and supervises Deputies and the Detectives. He/she carries 3 stripes on the arms of his/her uniform. The uniform consists consists of a Dark Brown octogonal peaked police hat (if a woman is in this position, it's a trooper like Campaigh hat in the same color), a light tan shirt with a black tie, a black name tag, a gold 8 point star badge, a gun belt, Dark brown pants with a black stripe running along the sides of the legs, and black shoes.

### **CHIEF DETECTIVE**

The head detective is in charge of all detectives in the department.

### **DETECTIVE**

The detective is the one who investigates a crime scene. He/she carries 2 stripes on the arms of his/her dress uniform, but usually they're in civilian clothes with a shield shaped gold badge.

### **DEPUTY or OFFICER**

Many people begin their careers with the sheriff’s department with the rank of deputy or officer. He/she earns this rank after completing initial training and will likely be assigned general duties, such as patrolling streets and highways. He/she carries 1 stripe on the arms of his/her uniform. The uniform consists of a Dark Brown octogonal peaked police hat (if it's a female deputy, it's a trooper like Campaigh hat in the same color), a light tan shirt with a black tie, a black name tag, a gold 7 point star badge, a gun belt, Dark brown pants with a black stripe running along the sides of the legs, and black shoes.

## Known Officers

* Frank T. Beaudry (Sheriff)
* Michelle Robinson (Chief Deputy)
* Emanuel Rodgiuez (Deputy)
* Howard Nicholson (Deputy)
* Joe Bryne (Deputy)
* Nancy Robertson (Deputy)

## Former and Current Sheriffs

**Big John Beaudry:** A African-American who ran as Sheriff of Sheldon from 1905 until 1921.

**Virgil Pierce:** Served as Sheriff from 1921 - 1929. This man took on more moonshiners than J. Edgar Hoover.

**Andrew J. Trousdale:** Served from 1929 - 1933. Lost the 1933 election.

**Edward Goodfellowe:** Served from 1933 - 1937.

**Sean Mulligan:** An Irish American who won the 1937 election and attempted to take on Federico "Rico" Giordano for years until his death in 1945.

**Joe Ross:** The local State Police Captain who served as Acting Sheriff until the election. Highly disliked because of his connections to both the Giordano Crime Family and the Dixie Mafia. Arrested by Frank Beaudry who later won the 1945 election.

**Franklin Tobias Beaudry:** Beaudry is Raccoon County's current Sheriff. He is the adopted grandson of Big John Beaudry.

## Uniforms

In the early days of the department, the Sheriff and his deputies patrolled the town on horseback. They wore black coats and cowboy hats with a badge. Later, deputies wore victorian style dark blue police uniforms and silver buttons and British style custodian helmets.

Later on in the 1920s, the only change to the uniforms was the replacement of the Custodian hats with white peaked hats. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the change of uniform was reduced to simply wearing a light gray button-up shirt with a badge, a gun belt, and a fedora while the Sheriff continued to bare a cowboy hat. In 1937, the uniform changed to a light tan button-up shirt, black tie, brown khaki trousers, and matching peaked hat. Later after world war 2, the shirts bore patches of the department's seal on the shoulders.

In the early 1950s, the department began hiring female officers. Female uniforms were the same as men's with the only difference is that female deputies bore a Brown Campaign Hat instead of the brown peaked hat of their male counterparts. Like always, the Sheriff continued to wear a brown cowboy hat.

## Weapons used by the department

### Standard Issue Sidearm

* Colt Model 1873 Single-Action Revolver (1905 - 1920) .44-40
* Colt New Service Double-Action Revolver (military surplus) (1920 - still in use as of 1962) .45 Colt
* Colt model 1909 Double-Action Revolver (military surplus) (1920 - still in use as of 1962) .45 Colt
* Colt model 1917 Double-Action Revolver (military surplus) (1920 - still in use as of 1962) .45 ACP

### Standard Issue Longarm

* Winchester model 1892 Saddle Ring Carbine Rifle (1905 - 1920) .44-40 (12+1 shot)
* Winchester model 1886 Rifle (1920 - 1945) .45-70 (9+1 shot)
* Winchester model 1894 Rifle (1945 - 1958) .30-30 (9+1 shot)
* M1 Garand Semi-Automatic Rifle (1958 - still in use as of 1962) .30-06 (8 shots)

### Standard Issue Shotgun

* Winchester model 1897 Pump Action (1905 - still in use as of 1962) 12 gauge (6+1 shot)

### Standard Issue Sniper Rifle

* Krag–Jørgensen Bolt Action Rifle (1905 - 1920) .30-40 Krag (5+1 shots)
* Ross Bolt Action Rifle (1920 - 1953) .303 British (5 shots)
* Springfield model 1903 Bolt Action (1953 - still in use as of 1962) .30-06 (5 shots)

### Standard Issue Detective Weapons

* Colt model 1903 pocket hammerless pistol (1903 - 1928) .32 ACP (8 shots)
* Colt Detective Special Double Action Revolver (1928 - still in use as of 1962) .32 Colt (6 shots)

### Standard Issue High Firearms

* 1928 Thompson Sub Machine Gun. (1928 - still in use as of 1962)

## List of RCSD Cars

### Emergency Wagons

All station wagons used by the RCSD were numbered in the K-9 series. For Ex: *"K-9 88, K-9 88, there is a shooting at 1305 Pleasant Acres, please to assist Sheldon 75, 82 and 109. Over".* They are usually used as K-9 units, Bomb Squad units, patrol units, emergency units, or assistance units.

Commander Station Wagon
Station Wagon
as of 1962
Station Wagon
1962

### Paddy Wagons

Paddy Wagons or patrol wagons, were usually panel trucks used by the R.C.S.D. to transport prisoners or for a rapid transport of officers to an incident. They were numbered in the P-W series. For Ex: *"P-W 116, P-W 116, we need a prisoner transport on 156 Averell Avenue."*

Service
Retired
Paddy Wagon
Panel Truck
Panel Truck

### Unmarked Cars:

These cars are used by Detectives. Some of these cars were former RSCD Patrol Cars that were retired from active patrol service. All unmarked cars are either painted in Black, two-tone Grey, or Blue and all are equipped with a hidden siren in the engine and a portable flashing red light that can be placed on the dash board whenever a call comes in or when the detective is in pursuit.

## Trivia

* *The Liveries of the police cars are the sterotypical black and white, inspired by the Los Angeles Police Department. Only difference is that the lettering is orange outlined in black and they tell you the location of the department, the unit number, the word SHERIFF, and indicating the department's been protecting Sheldon, NC since 1905.*

## Gallery

1927 Ford Model A 2-door Coupe1932 Chevrolet Confederate series AB 4-door sedan1938 Chevrolet Master Sedan 4-door1947 Ford Police Special 4-door sedan1953 Chevrolet Bel Air 4-door sedan1957 Plymouth Plaza 4-door sedan1957 Ford Custom 300 4-door sedan1958 Chevrolet Biscayne 4-door sedan1958 Dodge Coronet 4-door sedan1960 Ford Fairlane 500 4-door sedan1960 Plymouth Belvedere 4-door sedan1962 Ford Galaxie 500 4-door sedan1962 Chevrolet Impala 4-door sedan