The consequence is that four veteran police officers are seeking to fill two positions — meaning two could be demoted.

This week, Capt. David Belk, Capt. Ken Stutts, Capt. Mark Wilhelm and Lt. LaVelle Lovette are undergoing assessment to determine which will fill two new chief deputy positions.

The two chief deputies will take the place of three captains now reporting directly to Herring.

“This is in response to our internal assessment. We did that and we supplied that to the public during our crime control meetings,” Herring said.

“From the internal assessment and from my own assessment, we are just too topheavy,” Herring said.

Of the 102 employees in the department, 21 are in supervisory positions — that includes sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

“That is one supervisor to every 3 1/2 employees,” Herring said.

“We were having issues with accountability and work ethic. Everybody needs to be challenged and working 100 percent of the time they are here,” Herring said.

“I am trying to bring about accountability, efficiency and effectiveness, and at the same time, no one loses a job and immediately no one loses money.”

One deputy chief will supervise field operations, including patrol and detectives. The other deputy chief will supervise support services, including computers and the department’s dispatch center.

Herring expects to fill the two top positions effective July 1; and then later in July, the two who do not fill the chief deputy position and the six current lieutenants will undergo assessment to fill the seven lieutenant positions.

“The lieutenants reapply as well, and some of them are concerned,” Herring said.

The restructuring “allows me to create other positions,” he added.

A captain’s position will be eliminated, a lieutenant’s position will be converted to a victims advocate and another lieutenant’s position will be converted to a training sergeant.

“What I am trying to do is spend the tax dollars wisely and, at the same time, give the community what it wants,” Herring said. “At the Crime Control Task Force, the public wanted to work with victims more. We always focus on the offender.

“And, when I took this position over, I had complaints on officer activity and I had internal complaints where supervisors were not supervising.”

That is one of the goals Herring expects the restructuring to meet — accountability.

“Some people will not like this because it is going to make them work harder,” Herring said.

Here is a brief background of the four candidates applying for the chief deputy positions:

• Capt. David Belk joined the force in 1978 as a patrol officer. He has served as commander of the Services Division since his promotion to captain in 1991.

In August 1998, Belk served as interim chief after Chief Jeff Jacobs resigned. Belk earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Gardner-Webb College. He has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

• Lt. LaVelle Lovette has been with the department since December 1981. In 1989, she was the first woman promoted to sergeant in the department. And in August 1991, she was promoted to lieutenant.

Lovette now supervises the District 3 patrol division, overseeing 13 officers and two sergeants.

Lovette received a degree in police administration from the University of Louisville in 1978.

• Capt. Ken Stutts joined the department in 1976. For a brief period in 1979, he worked with the Greensboro Police Department.

He was promoted to lieutenant in 1984 and to captain in 1988. He has been commander of the Patrol Division since. Stutts was acting police chief between chiefs David Fortson and Jeff Jacobs in 1986.

He graduated in 1983 from the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville.

• Capt. Mark Wilhelm joined the department in 1979 as a patrol officer. In 1987, he was promoted to sergeant and in 1991 to lieutenant.

He has served as commander of the Criminal Investigations Division since April 1991. He was named captain in 1996.

Wilhelm has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.