The City of Greensboro doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to hire a new police chief.
Former Greensboro Police Chief Brian James announced his retirement on April 18 effective May 31. James’ retirement didn’t last long. On July 1 he started his new job as chief of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Police Department.
Greensboro City Manager Tai Jaiyeoba appointed Deputy Police Chief Teresa Biffle to serve as interim police chief.
In addition to holding three Zoom meetings in August where people can give input on what they would like to see in a new police chief, the city is also giving people the opportunity to complete an online survey. The survey includes topics such as the key issues facing the Police Department and the top priorities for the new chief and can be accessed here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T5QBLDQ
The results of the survey will be tabulated and provided to Developmental Associates the consulting group that is handling the nationwide police chief search for the city.
The survey is open through Friday, Sept. 30, which means the actual search for a new police chief will begin sometime after the end of next month or five and a half months after James announced his retirement.
With over 100 vacancies in the GPD, one of the huge issues the Police Department is facing is in recruiting new officers. James told the City Council that the GPD needed to graduate an average of 40 new officers from each Police Academy class for several years to reduce the deficit and graduate at least 30 new officers in each class to keep the vacancy rate from growing. There were only 13 graduates in the last Police Academy class, which means the number of vacancies is growing not shrinking.
Law enforcement agencies across the country are having difficulty recruiting new officers and recruiting new officers for a police department without a chief has to be far more difficult.
Your City Council working for you! Great job City Voters! The ride down the drain has just begun – enjoy the scenery for the next 4 years!
If you had a well-staffed and paid GPD, you could easily promote a chief from the ranks.
I guess they want someone who will follow their woke socialist agenda.
The City of Greensboro has a History of finding the most useless individual possible for the position of police chief. The smartest thing that can be done is just to privatize the police force. That way the people could have just a little more safety and security. This is the only way to throw out the corrupt trash that completely controls the current establishment. Currently the only way a common citizen can get assistance as things are currently being run is to go out and buy a few guns. Big business gets the attention the little man suffers and usually looses everything or is killed outright
Probably another reject from Charlotte!
Each of the assistant chiefs should be qualified to move into the chief’s position. I f they are not then perhaps they should not be in their positions. The city should not have to go all over the country looking for a new chief and wasting the money in this endeavor. The new chief should come from within the ranks.
None of the four have the stones or desire to make any progressive changes. They are all weak yes people.
Until you realize respect for the law and constitution and consequences for breaking it. You will never achieve that goal. I want a safe community free of gangs and drugs. Free of prostitution and crime. We are not a big city like Chicago or New York. Not even close. There is no excuse for the amount of homeless or begging on every other street corner. Parks should be safe. Fix it thats your job. If not quit and let someone else do the job.
Plus add in the weekly shootings. It’s your fault for being weak. Get hard and let the police do their jobs without persecution for pulling over someone dumb enough to break the law then be violent.
Greensboro, with their woke council, is following cities such as Chicago, Memphis, New York, and others which are turning their backs on their own law enforcement. You want violence to stop? Hire more officers, not less, and let them deal with the criminals.
Greensboro is “Little Portland”, or, “Big Sedalia”.
I would look for someone who understands the Constitution and what it means to swear allegiance to it.
I would look for a non-political candidate who is unafraid to speak the facts and truth to politicians.
I would look for someone who would not lower standards to hire incompetent and incapable candidates.
I would look for someone who would not use quotas to fill positions nor be influenced to do so. Quotas lead to hiring incompetent and incapable candidates.
I would look for someone who would see that duty is done by all officers regardless of pressure from interest groups and individuals.
I would look for someone who would fight for the officers to receive proper benefits and pay for the work they do and the risks they take every day.
I would look for someone unafraid to fight in court when a case should be taken to court rather than settling for millions of dollars such as the Marcus Smith case. That case should have gone to court.
I would look for someone with good communication skills.
I would look for someone who would stand their ground and explain to the public why a photo array of subjects with only Black men pictures is not discriminatory because a witness described a Black man as the perpetrator.
Dear Editor;
It seems quite a few folks are unhappy with the progress to hire a chief. Several suggestions should be taken as serious minded individuals offering ideas to resolve this issue. First of all, Madam Mayor and the
council should realize this is your responsibility and therefore, your fault. Quit caving in to criminals and let a jury decide if millions in taxpayer money should go to one who suffered consequences because they broke the law. I don’t want to live in Portland or Chicago and if you don’t realize we are headed in that exact direction,, you are far to obtuse to hold public office. Very few police officers are inclined to deliberately violate the rules of conduct when apprehending a criminal, so support them as they perform their mission. This alone, would go a long way toward finding candidates, and retaining existing officers. I am not at all happy with the present tax structure and i never gave the Mayor permission to give money away. This city made some bad decisions last election and since they have done it again, not much will change. This city council in total MIGHT comprise one reasonably competent person. Those of us in the City of Greensboro/Guilford County are being screwed on taxes. You have no real need for all that money and my money is betting it won’t go into a rainy day fund as our Legislators were smart enough to do when they had excess funds. Once upon a time, even Democrats could be responsible.
Well said!
I will add one additional consideration for a police chief; one who is physically fit. An overweight chief is not a good look. It suggests that physical fitness standards for the department are subpar. It also suggests that the chief lacks self-control.