You’ve all heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”, but do you actually buy into that theory? Well this sounds-to-good-to-be-true way of living actually exist in McClellanville.
Growing up in a small town like McClellanville (under 500 people) and then working as a police officer in Rock Hill (a suburb of Charlotte, NC with a population of +65,000) has given me an interesting perspective on law enforcement. When I returned to McClellanville, I was sort of elected without contest to be the new deputy town marshal. The town marshal’s authority is limited to the enforcement of town ordinances and my duties include things such as illegal parking, barking dogs, and helping neighbors work out a problem.
The thing that astonishes me though is how, excluding these few interactions that I have with the public, and the little bit of patrolling that the Charleston County Sheriff’s Deputy’s do, McClellanville exists on a nearly utopian level. If someone sees someone they don’t recognize acting suspicious, they call a neighbor or maybe the Sheriff’s Office. If a child is getting into trouble, you call his or her parents. Wecome together as a town and watch out for each other and guide each other to behave in an acceptable and moral way.
The most amazing thing however is what I have witnessed over the past few months. The town was having trouble with young unlicensed children driving golf carts in the village. The kids, not knowing the rules of the road, were involved in a few near misses with vehicles and the problem seemed to be getting worse. The issue was brought up in a town hall meeting. The council members discussed the matter with the public and it was decided that a note would sent out in the next town newsletter (which goes to all the town members) telling parents that the problem needed to be addressed. With nothing else said the problem all but ceased to exist within a month.
I can only image what type of response you would receive sending out a letter like this in any other town. I’m sure that most would ignore the warning, some would even laugh at it, and without concentrated efforts from the police department you would have zero compliance, yet in McClellanville, we experienced nearly 100%. What a great place to live…