Sheriff-Elect Wilhelm Names Top Assistants

BY JOHN PATTERSON
SALISBURY POST

Pledging an "approachable yet more professional and well-trained office," Sheriff-elect George Wilhelm this morning announced the top administrators who will join him in the Sheriff's Office Dec. 7.

Wilhelm, who beat veteran Sheriff Bob Martin in the November election, has appointed current Spencer Police Chief Steve Schenk as his chief deputy. Schenk, Wilhelm's old boss who also served as Wilhelm's campaign manager during the election, will be in charge of "executive command and administrative oversight" and serve as second in command at the office.

Joining Wilhelm and Schenk at the top of the ladder is current Chief Deputy and Rowan County Detention Center administrator Tim Bost. Bost, who has run the detention center since 1994, will serve as a major under Wilhelm and focus on "administration, planning and command."

Filling Bost's old position will be Sheriff's Office newcomer Dean Combs. Combs, who has over a decade of experience with the N.C. Department of Corrections as a probation/parole officer and has worked in the Division of Prisons, will serve as a captain while running the detention center.

Finally, Tommie Wood will run the office's criminal division and hold the rank of captain. Wood, who has served as a supervisor of the Special Investigations Unit, criminal investigations and the patrol division at different times during his 12 years at the Sheriff's Office, will also head up the support division, which includes a number of community-based programs.

The only top administrator from Martin's administration not offered a job is Maj. Ed Haupt, who served as Operations chief. Wilhelm has offered jobs to other top Martin administrators Ð Capts. John Lookabill, who supervised Criminal Investigations, and John Sifford, who managed the Support Division.

Wilhelm said his choices were the result of "lots of thought about the type of people he wanted to run the Sheriff's Office."

"I think we've put together a management team with similar philosophies," Wilhelm said. "I feel confident that we're going to be successful in crime fighting and working with the community."

Schenk, who has more than 18 years of law enforcement experience, said one of the new administration's goals was to "change the public's perception of the office."

"We want to be trusted ... the type of office where people can come to us with their problems," Schenk said. "But in addition to that, we want people to think of us as a very professional policing agency. We want people to see a Sheriff's Office that's got more quality and more professionalism."

Wilhelm, along with Schenk and Bost, will focus more on planning and policy, according to Bost. Wood and Combs will work closely with the office's daily operations in their respective positions.

But Wilhelm said he will not be a figurehead.

"While the emphasis on the sheriff will be policy and planning, I'll still be out there every day," Wilhelm said. "There's going to be a lot of times when I'm not in the office because I'm out there on the streets, talking to people and listening to what they have to say."

Wilhelm's administration may very well be the first in Sheriff's Office history to be "fully college educated," according to Wilhelm. Each member of Wilhelm's administration holds a degree from a four-year college or university. Wilhelm recently earned his degree from Pfeiffer University.

"Raising the standards here at the Sheriff's Office is something I've wanted to do from the very beginning," Wilhelm said.

Bost said he thinks higher standards of education for the office's leaders will trickle down to employment standards for all employees.

"I think the standards (of employment) for new hires will be increased significantly," Bost said. "That is something George (Wilhelm) stressed during his campaign, and it's something that we intend to implement."

Finally, despite what he called "rumors," Wilhelm said politics did not motivate any of his choices for administration.

"None of these people ever knew I had their names in my mind," Wilhelm said. "Some of these names may be surprises to people ... but these are the best people in the county for these positions."