RFP Staff
♦ On Tuesday evening the highlight of the Salisbury City Council Meeting was when City Manager Lane Bailey provided an update on the search for a new full-time police chief for a city wracked by shootings, break-ins, assaults, robberies, and unsolved murders. Many in the city and the understaffed and underpaid police department were left with a bad taste having experienced the last full-time chief who’s deposition revealed he was a ten year synthetic heroin (OxyContin) user and who left the department in shambles. According to Collin’s deposition, the real decision maker was Assistant City Manager (former H.R. person) Zack Kyle.
City Manager Bailey told the council he received around 50 applications from across the country. Some of the applicants were chosen for further questioning and from their responses he would pair the field down to a dozen or so. Those individuals, no matter where they lived, would be interviewed via Skype (teleconferencing) over the next few weeks. Follow-up interviews would arrive in May. According to Bailey every applicant would go through the same process.
City Councilman Kenny Hardin questioned Bailey if there would be an interview team or if city council would be involved.
Baily responded that he and Assistant City Manager Zack would conduct the interviews. An ISS employee is helping with background checks.
Hopefully City Hall will find an experienced professional from outside the police department and they won’t have their decisions made by Kyle. Salisbury is in bad shape with crime and they have a major shortage in experienced police manpower.
