By Jackie Seabolt
Enterprise Record

COOLEEMEE – When Bobby West began his job as police chief almost three years ago, he wanted to make a difference in the small mill town.
At this month’s town board meeting, West reported what his department is doing and it’s safe to say a difference is being made.
Crime is down 25% in Cooleemee.
The number one problem for the town is speeding, followed by drivers without licenses, and stop sign violations came in third.
West said the first year he was chief there was a 4% reduction in crime; in 2009 there was another drop of 21%.
West told the board the previous police department administration only logged three arrests for 2007.
“This year we did 53 arrests plus 26 warrants,” West said.
An activity log events summary West gave to the board showed that Cooleemee police officers responded to a total of 24,161 events in 2010.
Those events include security checks at the school and …