Asheville Police Chief to resign for personal reasons

Asheville Police Department Chief Chris Bailey
OVER AND OUT: Police Chief Chris Bailey will resign his post after serving less than two months. Photo courtesy of the City of Asheville

Press release from the City of Asheville:

Asheville Police Chief Chris Bailey has given notice of his resignation for personal reasons which need his attention. Chief Bailey’s last day of employment will be September 27, 2019.

“I appreciate the opportunity and confidence the City Manager and selection committee had in me to lead the great women and men of the Asheville Police Department,” said Chief Bailey. “I cannot say enough great things about my experience here. The support I have received from the police department, city management and community has been incredible. It has been heartbreaking for me to come to this decision after being embraced by so many.”

City Manager Debra Campbell acknowledges this is disappointing news for the community of Asheville. “While this news is unfortunate, we continue to be committed  to hiring a police chief who demonstrates the ability to meaningfully connect with the community and fellow police officers,” Campbell said. “I hate to see Chris go but I respect his decision.”

A new police chief is anticipated to start in January 2020. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) will conduct the search.

In the interim, the City will contract with Chief Robert C. White (Retired) to serve as Interim Chief.  Chief White is a former police chief with 40 plus years in law enforcement that focused on increasing transparency, work efficiencies, and key partnerships between police officers and the communities they serve. He served as police chief in Denver, CO, Louisville, KY, and Greensboro, NC.

Chief White will begin Oct. 1 and will continue efforts in the following areas:

implementation of the written consent policy;
rollout of Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC) training for officers; and
building a department, from top to bottom, that resembles the demographic makeup of our Asheville community.

The City is aware of the circulation of information regarding charges against Chief Bailey. Chief Bailey was involved in an incident that resulted in a misdemeanor. This information was voluntarily shared by the chief at the beginning of the interview process and is in no way related to his decision to resign. The incident took place 15 years ago and was not associated with his service as a police officer. Chief Bailey has had an exemplary record in his service as a law enforcement officer.

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8 thoughts on “Asheville Police Chief to resign for personal reasons

  1. Robin

    I hope the feds finish with Wanda Greene and the county soon because they need to investigate the City. I have no connection to Chief Bailey, and I don’t know anything about him other than what the City’s PR machine has put out, but: The City has flat gone through the senior managers in the last few years. Other than the Fire Chief, every senior manager position has changed hands except for two common department director supervisors: Mayor Mannheim and Cathy Ball.
    Counting interims; that’s six police chiefs in five years, three City Attorneys, 4 City Managers, at least 3 Planning Directors, and 3-4 HR Directors. The list goes on, but it also includes, Public Works, Development Services, and Water departments all with multiple directors and senior managers in that time frame, and under Cathy and our good Mayor. Based on that trend, that’s over 20 senior executives that have cycled out under Esther and Ms. Ball. Anyone who’s in the management field will deduce that either Cathy and Esther are horrible managers who can’t keep staff, or they utterly suck at hiring quality candidates. But, I guess when your criteria for a Planning Director is to just hire the Mayor’s neighbor (Shannon Tuch; who failed miserably in that gimme job), or Heath Shuler’s cousin (Greg Shuler) as your Public Works Director; qualifications and credentials don’t really matter.
    It’s literally right there in front of you Mountain X, but you’re just not asking the right people the right questions. Maybe you should offer Chad Nesbitt a job. At least he asks the tough questions and gets a scoop every now and then.

    • C-Law

      This–FTW!!

      Asheville and Buncombe County have gotten EXACTLY the government they DESERVE! ha!

      • Robin

        I was referring to Mr. Nesbitt’s Skyline news article, where he correctly wrote that Chief Bailey was leaving the City of Asheville. The fact that he operates a street sweeping business is irrelevant to the post; unless you’re pointing out that he runs a business and only sidelines in the news business; yet, he has been fairly consistent in beating the “real media” to a story.

        • bsummers

          You mean Chad has friends at APD who hate the City leadership and make life impossible for anyone who they bring in from the outside to try to clean things up. That’s not news. Let’s check it out though…

          “MORE ON THE SHERIFF’S CUSTOM CHROME WHEELS”

          Wow, you’re right. That’s some solid journalism right there!

  2. K Smith

    ^^^what Robin said. Beyond time to figure out what stinks so much at city hall.

  3. Rose

    And why the brain drain of long-term AB Tech state employees at over the past few years?

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