New Police Chief in Place by June 1st

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Asheville leaders will hold three public meetings this month to hear what residents want in a new police chief. The city also hired a consulting firm called Affion Public to lead the search. The company will be paid $21,000 for the job. Brian Elston, President of Montford's Neighborhood Association, said one character trait is at the top of his list. "Integrity. Integrity and accountability in a police chief," Elston said, who gave an example of former Chief William Anderson's son who was involved in a wreck and left the scene. "The Deante situation happened in Montford that was witnessed by Montford residents as you well know," Elston said. "There was switching of police officers and Lt. Wilke was involved." Elston says he is pleased with APD's assigned officer program who works as a liaison with the neighborhood. Elston, however, mentioned another incident he said Montford residents felt was handled poorly by the former APD administration. "There was a police chase that happened around 3 o'clock in the afternoon when school buses were being let out. It was for a non-threatening crime that was happening and there were cars going down Montford avenue at a high rate of speed, while there were kids being let off," Elston said. "And we had some concerns about that and they were eventually addressed but we thought they could have been a little more responsible and more accountable on that." Kate Fisher an Asheville resident said she wants a police chief who adds to community police programs already in place. "I think we have been so short staffed that that it isn't always possible, so it may involve hiring more people," Fisher said. "Honestly, Asheville is an extremely difficult city to manage," Matt Buys said, a west Asheville resident who also serves on the board for Asheville City Schools. "My own experience with our superintendent is, you need almost a magical person to make it work here because there are so many factors pulling on you," Buys said. "I'm glad we're doing these forums because I think it's critical to get community support from all areas." FOP President Rondell Lance said city leaders should not overlook hiring from within. "Do we not have anyone here that meets the qualifications?" Lance said. "Instead of bringing someone from four or five states away, let's get a local person that understands this community." In a statement, the city said it plans to have a new chief in place by June 1. Meetings will take place Feb. 24 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center, 285 Livingston Street, and Feb. 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the fourth floor training room, Municipal Building, 100 Court Plaza. Light refreshments will be provided at each meeting. A third public input opportunity will take place Feb. 25 during the regular meeting of the Inter-Denominational Ministerial Alliance of Asheville from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hill Street Baptist Church, 135 Hill Street. by Kimberly King Follow Kim on Twitter @KimKingReports _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook:   / news13   WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter:   / wlos_13   WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram:   / wlos_13   Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Cha... Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anch... Watch more top local news stories:    • Western Loses At ETSU, Highlights and more   For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.