The LRPOA Covenants include a ‘Lake Royale Police Company,’ and our current Board of Directors (BOD) is exploring various options regarding the department’s future. Responses from board members have been inconsistent, with discussions ranging from disbanding the LRPD, increasing staffing, bringing in outside agencies or security guards, to even rumors of neighboring counties absorbing our officers. As of this publication, the community has not received clear communication on the matter, despite multiple requests.
Examining the Numbers
The LR 2025 budget, shared in an open meeting in February, indicates a decrease in LRPD headcount from the 2024 budget, with a total reduction of five officers. Despite a Facebook post by Steve Ragaglia expressing intentions to increase LRPD staffing, the budget contradicts this claim.
New Staffing Levels
On June 24th, Steve Ragaglia provided an update on the new officer headcount:
- 5 Full-time Officers (3 fewer than budgeted for 2024/2025)
- 2 Part-time Officers (1 fewer than budgeted for 2024/2025)
Current LRPD Landscape as of July 1, 2024
- 3 Part-time Officers have resigned.
- 4 Full-time Officers have given notice.
- 2 remaining officers are uncertified and not yet sworn in.
- LRPD will be down 9 officers, leaving only 2 officers.
- Night patrols ceased due to resource shortages following Fanara’s departure.
- There are 9 open officer positions, with no start dates yet offered (typically taking 1-2 months to process a start date).
- A transition plan is in place for when Chief Wescott steps down and will hopefully be communicated by the BOD in a timely manner.
- For the LR celebration on July 6th, there will be 8 law enforcement officers available (LRPD & neighboring support), thanks to the efforts of Interim Chief Wescott and the LRPD officers.
Last Days for Departing Officers
- Shumate – July 8th
- Radford – July 7th
- Wescott (Interim Chief) – July 12th
- Guadalupe – July
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Officers Shumate, Radford, Guadalupe, and Interim Chief Wescott for their unwavering dedication and service to our community. Your continued support has made a significant difference. Congratulations on your new endeavors, and best wishes for the future! 
Future of the LRPD
The discussion is not solely about disbanding the Lake Royale Police Department but also about:
- Reducing personnel hours and resources (as already observed).
- Defining the roles within the LRPD as either police officers or security guards.
- Researching options to save money from LRPD budget to allocate elsewhere.
As outlined in the conversation below, the issue of what the future of our LRPD was the subject of discussion.
Highlights of the conversation on June 7th with Fanara, Ragaglia, and Gordon about the LRPD. The full recorded clips are provided as reference.
Ragaglia “… you were told specifically that this meeting was between the three of us and you. You didn’t call us to ask us to tell your officers…. your officers don’t have a play in the game…”
Fanara “… Well, I mean, let’s face it, they do though.”
Ragaglia “… you took a chance and a choice…and they are spreading it around the community..”
Editor’s comment: Steve said since the community knew about the meeting, the only person that could have leaked it was Kevin White and Steve highly doubted that he would say anything. Steve said that are hands are forced and we have to at least tell “them” where we are since it is “out”
Editor’s comment: Wescott told them (he was in the mtg) that he heard about the sheriff meeting by someone outside the Lake Royale community. They were not residents here but told Wescott about the sheriff mtg. Noreen asked when that happened & Wescott said a week or so ago.
Ragaglia: “… we have no, none of the three of us have an obligation to tell you any of this.”
Fanara: “And that’s what concerns me.”
Ragaglia: “… but the thing about it is we did.”
Fanara: “right, and it’s still concerning.”
Fanara: “Steve, what you are talking about is the police department, I’ve come in and done nothing but look out for my officers, because of the way we were treated before. I’ve never once asked for myself, I don’t care about the Chiefs title, I know I’m not getting it, I don’t care. Because I’ve come in and tried to do right by them and I feel like that’s not being matched by you all. You can disagree, that’s fine, we have a difference in opinions, you know that I concern my opinions to you but at the end of the day I look out for them because that’s what I do as a leader… so when concerns come up that the police department may or may not be in existence next year, I have to let my officers know.”
Gordon: ”That has never been communicated with you.”
Gordon: “…as I said earlier, our Governing documents, which we do not have the authority to change at all, is that we must have a Lake Royale Company Police.”
Fanara: “but in the capacity that you’re expressing doesn’t sound like it’s going to be in a police officer capacity, am I right?”
Ragaglia: “it doesn’t express in our documents that it has to be in a police officer capacity.” – *see reference to #7 Property Owners Association (POA) ,9th paragraph below.
Fanara: “exactly, so that’s what I am concerned with because my officers aren’t staying here to be security guards.”
Ragaglia: “No, what we discussed with you and that we told you specifically and I told you specifically it was my first question with Kevin White was would you all be able to become Franklin County deputies and he said “yes” …. So obviously we were looking out… you have an obligation as a chief of police and as their leader and their supervisor to watch out for them. Us as board members have the obligation to watch out for our community and you, our employees, and the wellness and health of this community. And right now we’re getting trashed all over social media about nothing somebody knows, lied about, I got officers going out and talking… and it’s turned into a malay… I know residents that have already gone down to Kevin White too… they need to stay out of it!”
Editor’s note: on May 20th, the LR Board Members attended a meeting with Sheriff Kevin White. No record of which BOD members were in attendance.
Fanara: “… I’m just going to say this… I really wish you cared more about your police department and fought for your police department… but thats my frustration… that’s where my frustration everyday lies… the fact the conversation went straight to the Sheriff’s office was to unload the police department onto them because you guys feel a certain way … but you couldn’t have came to me and said look, this is where we are at, we’re financially in a hole… and we are looking at options..”
Gordon: “… I heard that on social media and that’s a lie too… that’s an absolute lie… you are repeating things that are absolutely untrue… that the whole idea that the police is being unloaded because of saving some money… ”
Ragaglia: “… that was actually on social media… I talked to the board about it, I said do you believe that these jackasses are putting up here right now that because of the boards frivolous spending, that we’re getting rid of the police department to make up for the money that we spent.”
Ragaglia: “… do you remember when I told you there’s no good, bad, ugly in this? It’s either good or it’s better…if you think the board is not looking out for your best interest by discussing this to possibly get you state benefits, more equipment, better equipment, … “
Fanara: “.. but that’s through the Sheriff’s office!”
Ragaglia: “... we’re still trying to absorb you into that though…”
Gordon: “ ok… and I’ve heard this repeatedly, is that we have officers here and we can’t compete with the state benefits… we can’t do that, ok… we talked about different ways of how, whether or not … what type of benefits in a larger pool, such as Bunn, Louisburg, Zebulon, maybe some others that would have greater benefits to make it more competitive… those are some of the things we were talking about…”.
Fanara: “I wanted to be invest in THIS. Invest in what we have here … how can we do better in house, not out… of course if we got absorbed by Bunn tomorrow, we would be better off but we wouldn’t have THIS! We don’t want to be Bunn, we don’t want to be Franklin county deputies, we want to be Lake Royale Company Police Department.
Ragaglia: “What we want is a force that is full and it never happens and the reason we keep on hearing is because there’s no benefits to draw people in here…”
Fanara: “So… we agree, it comes back to benefits? Did we do everything we possibly could to address the benefits and then say look, we’ve done everything there’s no other way, I would say ‘you’re right’ but we didn’t, we jumped over it [benefits] and said well maybe if we give you guys to the Sheriff’s office, you’ll have that.”
Ragaglia: “… she’s [Noreen] here, she can tell you, she and me never went to Kevin White [Sheriff], only John [Bell] did.”
Fanara: “… but I don’t know that because we haven’t had meetings together.”
Ragaglia: “.. guess what, just read social media… everybody will tell YOU that the asshole’s the one that did it, I had nothing to do with it… nothing to do with it AT ALL.”
Gordon: “John coordinated all of this.”
Ragaglia: “John’s the one that’s friends with the county commissioner, HE’s friends with Kevin White, HE’S the one that’s done all of this, HE’S bringing it to the board, so it was all a surprise to us as well that John had already done all this leg work. But as the board President, I’m getting blamed for it. And I’m not even involved in it.”
Fanara: “Does anybody have an issue with John not telling anybody and going to do that? Or, no?”
Gordon: “John was delegated to do that.”
Ragaglia: “He [John] was delegated to look at options.”
Ragaglia: “what can the community do to help you? Not the Board.”
Fanara: “They support us.”
Ragaglia: “Do they? How do they support you? They can’t make your decisions, they don’t pay you, they can’t come in here and tell the board what to do. So how do they support your decisions? All they are doing is going out and talking crap.”
The Lake Royale community is facing significant uncertainty regarding the future of its police department. The decrease in officer headcount, coupled with inconsistent and sparse communication from the board, has left residents seeking clarity. As the Board of Directors continues to evaluate options, it is crucial for the community to stay informed and engaged to ensure that the LRPD’s future aligns with the residents’ needs and expectations.
Reference:
**COVENANTS of Lake Royale Subdivision (Formerly Lake Sagamore Subdivision)
#7 Property Owners Association (POA) ,9th paragraph: The Association is to maintain a security force out of the membership dues which shall provide security for the Association’s members and their property. The Security Force is to be known as the “Lake Royale Company Police”, and is to be a subsidiary of the Lake Royale Property Owners Association, Inc. and is to be financed and maintained out of the Association dues for the use and benefit of the Association members. 22 Amended at Annual meeting July 21, 2012
