Five In Running For Police Chief
Candidates to interview for job over weekend

BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

City officials have narrowed their search for a new Salisbury police chief to five candidates, including one person from inside the department and four out-of-state prospects.

This weekend, the city will embark on its most extensive, community-involved interview process ever, with the five candidates as the focus of attention over two days, Sunday and Monday.

On Monday, the most intense day, the candidates will go through four different panel presentations and interviews. By the end of the day, those panels will recommend their top two or three choices.

The ultimate decision rests with City Manager David Treme, who also will interview each of the candidates. He expects to make a final choice during the next month.

Almost 40 people, including citizens, police chiefs from other cities, city department heads and businessmen, make up the various panels, labeled as law enforcement, community leaders, business leaders and management team.

Before reaching this point, city officials sought input from the public on the kind of person wanted in a police chief through newspaper questionnaires, a public hearing and individual interviews with citizens at City Hall.

‘‘There is wisdom in the multitude of counsel,’’ Treme said. ‘‘We realized the selection of the police chief should involve all segments of our community to the extent possible. This decision was not going to be made in a vacuum.

‘‘... It’s my decision to pick one, but certainly they (Salisbury City Council) suggested to open it up as much as possible to the community.’’

The law enforcement interview panel includes Charlotte Police Chief Dennis Norwicki, Durham Police Chief Teresa Chambers, Raleigh Police Chief Mitch Brown and Wilson Police Chief Willie Williams.

Former Police Chief Jeff Jacobs resigned last August after 12 years with the city. David Belk, a veteran officer who was not an applicant, has been acting police chief since then.

Treme said the city originally had 118 applicants for the job. With the help of the community input and the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based consulting group, the city staff narrowed the applicants down to the remaining five.

‘‘I’m excited about all we’ve done to make this an inclusive process,’’ said Melissa Taylor, human resources director for the city. ‘‘We have some top-quality applicants through the process we’ve used.’’

Treme expects two to three candidates to be left standing after Monday. He then will conduct more extensive background tests and, if the candidates are out of state, probably will visit their communities. An outside agency also could be used in the background checks, Taylor said.

Treme said the applicants remaining are diverse and include at least one woman and an African-American. He described them as ‘‘five excellent candidates’’ and said he’ll look for the individual who best fits the community and department.

The prospects have not been identified. The process will take from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday.

Council members have been invited individually to sit in on some of the different exercises that the candidates will be going through Sunday and Monday. Mayor Pro Tem Paul Woodson and Councilmen Bill Burgin and William Kennedy are members on different interview panels.

Taylor said the candidates will tour Salisbury on Sunday. Each candidate also will go through a news scenario in which he or she faces media-type questions about a controversial situation.

Treme will briefly interview each candidate before a reception is held in the candidates’ honor. The candidates will meet each other during the tour and reception.

During the panel assessments Monday, each candidate will make a brief presentation followed by questions with the specific focus of the panel. The panels will meet privately later to deliberate and recommend their top candidates.

Before arriving in Salisbury, each candidate answered a questionnaire from the city. They also have completed a ‘‘human pattern instrument,’’ a test showing things such as their management and interpersonal skills and how they might respond to pressure and non-pressure situations.

Those human pattern tests have been sent to a Raleigh consultant for analysis and will be one of the things Treme uses in his own evaluations.