Lane Kepley To Take Over For Departing Steve Schenk

By DEIRDRE PARKER SMITH
SALISBURY POST

P. Lane Kepley, 28, a lieutenant in the Spencer Police Department, will become the town's new chief of police effective Dec. 7.

A seven-year veteran of the police department, Kepley is a Salisbury native and graduate of East Rowan High School who is attending Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, majoring in criminal justice.

He replaces Steve Schenk, who will join the Sheriff's Office as chief deputy. Spencer Police Capt. George Wilhelm defeated Bob Martin in the race for sheriff Nov. 3.

The town board discussed his promotion in a closed session Nov. 10, when Schenk and Wilhelm came in to talk about the future, Mayor Buddy Gettys said.

"I had been thinking about Kepley for a long time," Gettys said Monday. "I made the suggestion and the board supported it. Kepley came to town about when I was elected mayor. ... I've been very impressed by (him) over the years.

"He's well-liked by the department, well-liked by the board, well-liked by the community ... very professional. ... I think it's the next step for him."

The board does not have to approve the hiring, because all town department heads report directly to the town manager.

Gettys said the board really wanted to promote from within.

Kepley admits to being "a little nervous but excited, too." Right now, he'll make no promotions. "I want to let things settle down a little bit and see where we stand."

Sgt. Eric Stillwell will act as second in command.

Gettys and Kepley said the town will hire someone to fill Kepley's position, but Gettys said the department probably won't replace Wilhelm as captain. The public safety committee will discuss that before the next board meeting. Wilhelm's position was funded by the COPS grant program, and the town could save some money by not filling it. "But we'll have the same coverage," Gettys said.

Another member of Spencer's department will probably join the Sheriff's Office, but no one with the town could confirm who that might be.

For now, "I want to maintain the direction we've been going in," Kepley said. "We're leaning more and more toward community-oriented policing and I want to keep working with that."

He says the department will continue to attack the drug problem, with a detective dedicated solely to that beat.

Kepley says he will depend on a lot of on-the-job training for his position and will probably attend special schools, such as one on grant writing. He holds an intermediate certificate from the N.C. Training and Standards Commission and is certified as a law enforcement firearms instructor.

Kepley and his wife, Sherry, live in Rockwell. She is a radiologic technologist at Rowan Regional Medical Center, and they attend Bethel Baptist Church. Kepley said he will not move. Only the town manager is required to live in Spencer.

He emphasized that "anyone can come talk to me about any problems or suggestions they have, both the public and the officers."

When he's not working, he enjoys fishing and a little bit of hunting.

Spencer will see a lot of change in December. Schenk and Wilhelm move to the sheriff's office and Kepley steps up on Dec. 7, and Kevin Howard, 29, begins his job as town manager on Dec. 14.

Schenk, Spencer chief for six years, is credited with reducing the crime rate in five of the last six years, clearing more cases and starting the COPS program, school resource officers and DARE programs in Spencer. He sought grants that allowed the department to expand from seven to 14 full-time personnel.