BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

As soon as Chris Herring shunned a microphone, demanded that a door be opened for air and asked for more lighting on stage, he took control of the evening and the future of the Salisbury Police Department.

In a booming voice and with a manner that put his audience at ease, Herring spoke about community policing to a crowd of a couple hundred Monday night at Livingstone College.

But it was more like an audition for Herring than a presentation – his first public appearance in the city since being named as the new Salisbury police chief, effective May 17.

Herring, now chief in Hartsville, S.C., spent Monday meeting his fellow Salisbury officers, officials and taxpayers. The city held a reception and sit-down dinner in his honor at City Hall, and his appearance at Livingstone College prompted the large crowd for the final educational session in the Salisbury Vision 2020 series.

By Monday evening’s end, Herring had answered many questions and earned a standing ovation from the audience. But it took Herring himself to put the day in perspective.

When the novelty of a new chief wears off and the honeymoon is over, Herring said, he’ll still be wanting to see Salisburians as excited and as involved.

‘‘When we speak about making our community safer, it’s work,’’ Herring said. He warned that citizens shouldn’t sit back and wait for him and his department to succeed or fail.

‘‘This is about getting involved, see,’’ Herring said. ‘‘... Police are the public, and the public are the police.’’

Community policing works when cities stop separating the two, Herring said.

‘‘Everyone has responsibility – the only difference is police get full-time pay,’’ he added.

Herring has been police chief in Hartsville since December 1995. City Manager David Treme, using a publicly involved assessment process, selected Herring out of 118 original applicants from across the country.

Treme described Herring Monday as a leader, educator and communicator – good at speaking and listening.

‘‘He seemed to meet the expectations we set out in our community profile,’’ Treme said.

Mayor Susan Kluttz said that Herring’s character and qualifications match the city’s needs at this time. She hoped that Monday’s Vision 2020 session on neighborhood planning and public safety also has laid the foundation for a neighborhood improvement task force to meet and begin its work.

Herring’s background includes consulting work for departments elsewhere, including Columbia, S.C., and Knoxville, Tenn. He has been a criminal justice instructor at Coker College and Durham Technical College, besides serving as community policing program director for N.C. Crime Control and Public Safety.

A native of the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, Herring has worked as a beat cop, sergeant and chief. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, often while working full-time.

‘‘And that impressed me,’’ Treme said.

In Hartsville, Herring built a reputation for getting the community involved through scores of meetings and establishment of a Citizens Police Academy, which gives taxpayers the opportunity to spend hours with officers on patrol and see firsthand how the department works.

While on stage Monday night, Herring asked for the police officers and members of the fire department to stand as a group.

‘‘These are the folks that actually risk their lives,’’ he said.

As for himself, Herring said, ‘‘I consider myself a coach.’’

Herring described community policing – the trend nationally in law enforcement for several years – as a management style that encourages partnerships, problem solving and organization.

Herring said he’ll be concentrating on his own department’s organization first through an internal assessment, looking at all aspects from vehicle maintenance and radios to computers and hiring practices.

An external assessment will come next. Herring said he’ll want to know who’s willing to work in the community, who the gripers are and who’s willing to gripe and help.

But the most important tool, he suggested, will be formulation of a crime control plan after all the assessments and community resources are evaluated. The plan locks into the ‘‘vision’’ concept often discussed during the Salisbury Vision 2020 series.

What do citizens want? What does his department want? Herring hopes to answer those questions.

Someone asked Herring whether the Salisbury Police Department had adequate manpower.

‘‘Oh, no, I need about 40 more people,’’ Herring shouted to laughter.

He added that he really doesn’t know the answer until he does some of the assessments he referred to earlier.

Why is he coming to Salisbury? Herring said he has always thought of himself as a North Carolinian. He likes the college environment in Salisbury and enjoyed the selection process and its contact with people.

What are his views on police substations in neighborhoods? Herring said they must have a purpose and be properly utilized by both the department and public.

‘‘I love it as long as it’s not fluff,’’ Herring said.

A Livingstone student asked Herring to describe the difference between reactive and pro active policing. Using drugs as an example, Herring said reactive policing would be waiting until drugs consumed a neighborhood.

A pro active tact recognizes, Herring said, that things aren’t bad yet, but the need exists to pull people together now to create a vision to address potential problems.

On auxiliary or reserve police officers, Herring said he likes the idea of having more eyes and ears in a community through properly trained reserves. He warned that he would not want vigilantes.

Former City Councilman Jim Dunn asked Herring what impressed him most about Salisbury? Herring answered that it was the selection process for chief and how it had involved so many people. He also reassured his audience.

‘‘I’m not looking for a stepping stone to go anywhere,’’ he said. ‘‘I do what I want to do for family and the community.’’

Herring, who has been married less than three years, has two small children: 19 months and four months.

What did he like least about Salisbury? Herring wasn’t sure, but he expressed a concern that not everyone in the community is yet taking full responsibility, although they might think they are.

‘‘We’re just about there,’’ he said.