'We have some big shoes to fill,' new Hoke sheriff says

Two weeks after longtime Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin died unexpectedly, his successor will be sworn in on Friday.

Hoke County commissioners picked Roderick Virgil on Monday to fill the remainder of Peterkin's term in office.

Virgil said Wednesday that he's aware he and the rest of the sheriff's office "have some big shoes to fill."

"He was a man of integrity," he said of Peterkin, whom he called his mentor, during an interview with WRAL News.

"He always had a vision. He was very passionate," he added. "We're going to continue his legacy."

Virgil has been a reserve deputy with the sheriff's office for about a dozen years. He was a paramedic in 2008 when Peterkin recruited him to be the medic for the sheriff's office SWAT team. That required him to go through law enforcement training and certification.

He said his combination of experience with the sheriff's office, EMS and a landscaping business have given him the communication skills and patience needed to be the top law enforcement official in the county.

"Whenever you're in this line of work, you have to be able to communicate with people," he said. "People want to know that they're accepted. ... They just want to be heard."

Virgil said stability will be key to maintaining the well-oiled machine Peterkin created in the sheriff's office. So, he's keeping Chief Deputy David Newton in the role of his top assistant. The pair have known each other for years.

"It's easy to say, 'Yeah, I know him,'" Newton said. '[But] we've got to build a relationship now, and that all starts with trust."

A Hoke County native, Virgil said his familiarity with the diverse population also will help.

"Everybody is special. Everybody is a person," he said. "I've never seen nothing but red blood from every race, and that's how I look at it. ... Nobody's better than nobody. I don't care what position you hold, we're all special."