Press release from the Committee to Elect Shad Higgins for Sheriff:
“We have to begin before day one,” stated Buncombe County Sheriff Candidate Shad Higgins at a small gathering of his newly appointed Transition Team on Tuesday. “We can’t wait. The people of Buncombe County can’t wait. We need to start now. We need to lead,” referring to the urgency for strong, experienced management at all levels of the Sheriff’s Office.
Determined to launch “a new era of robust leadership,” Higgins decided to publicly release his transition and strategic plan for the Sheriff’s Department so that “the people of Buncombe County will know exactly how we’re going operate from the very beginning, with the highest levels of respect, integrity, and professionalism.”
Days after his family business was suspiciously destroyed by fire, Higgins demonstrated a “stronger than ever commitment to winning this race and bringing respect and integrity to the Sheriff’s Department,” said Anthony Coggiola, an experienced law enforcement officer, retired Special Forces Veteran and member of Higgins’ Advisory Board.
“People want to know who will be serving and protecting this community. They want to know how they will be kept safe. And they want to know that the Sheriff’s Office will work with professionalism and courtesy,” Higgins told the group gathered at his headquarters as he reviewed the final draft of his plan. “This explains exactly how we will do that. We’ve taken on the best, most experienced people in the county to assemble the department and to serve our friends and neighbors.”
Pausing for a moment, Higgins looked at the group and told them what the past few days have been like. “My family and I were subjected to something awful last week,” referring to the devastating fire that destroyed Weaverville Tire & Wheel, his company on Old Mars Hill Highway. “But it hasn’t slowed us down one bit. Our community gathered around us and we’re back open for business already. The people of Buncombe County do what all Americans do in the face of an attack like this. They stay calm. They remain brave. And they unite. This week has us working at a new level of devotion and commitment. This won’t stop us. Nothing will,” Higgins told his new Transition Team.
Members of the Higgins Transition Team include:
Anthony Coggiola
Terry Rodgers
Pete Allen
Randy Higgins
Jennifer Saucier
Robyn Michalove
Greg Stephens
Kevin GentryShad Higgins said, “We gauge our wealth on love and community support. I am so overwhelmed with love and support. We are truly blessed.”
In introducing his transition plan, Mr. Higgins explained each point of the following:
Five points guiding the transition of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office:
1. Leadership – A top to bottom shift to a servant leadership style of policing, asking nothing of employees that leadership would not also do themselves.
2. Integrity – Recast recruitment and retention so that all personnel are trained to a higher level of respect, professionalism, and courtesy.
3. Community Engagement – Make it a priority to engage the community and build trust.
4. Technology – Expand Buncombe County’s ‘toolbox’ and use new technologies to the department’s advantage.
5. Accountability-Based Policing – Streamline the Sheriff’s Office to respond more quickly to the needs of the community, and to measure results to help bring immediate resources to immediate problems.Mission Statement
It is the mission of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office to provide professional, high quality and effective law enforcement and correctional services in partnership with the community. We are committed to the protection of life and property; the preservation of peace, order, and safety; the vigorous enforcement of local, county, and state laws; and the defense of the Constitution of the State of North Carolina and the Constitution of the United States of America in a fair and impartial manner.
Organizational Values
- RESPECT: Treat others with consideration and professionalism. Being respectful of others does not imply you have to accept every suggestion or thought; there are different approaches in dealing with day to day issues without having to compromise your values.
- R – “Respect”: “Bring back mutual Respect” Quality, Regulatory Standards, Customer Service, Professional/Industry Confidence.
- E – “Educate”: “Educate Officers and Citizens” through training.
- S – “Safe Communities”: “Community” forums for input and improved efforts of community policing programs.
- P – “Protect Everyone”
- E – “Effective Communication” Active Listening. Engaged Dialogue.
- C – “Community Involvement” Intentional Outreach. Town Hall.
- T – “Tell / Share with Us” We want to know how we are doing and will endeavor to improve.
For more information, contact Charles Billy Beck at 828-712-0389 or billyb@appalachiantech.com.
Someone, or, perhaps more terrifyingly, several someone’s, we’re paid to produce this “Mission Statement” that reads like a high school sophomore read the Wikipedia page for “law enforcement issues,” paniced when they realized they were still 150 words short of the assignment, then put together a meaningless acrostic to pad it out. Where’s the declaration regarding the biggest three issues facing Buncombe County in terms of law enforcement: opiods, race-biased policing, and prison and overcrowding? I guess all the substantive policy stuff was lost in the fire. This kind of rhetoric marks the difference between Higgins and Miller: one of them is a law enforcement professional, while the other can’t hire a component copy writer, yet is touting his “manigerial experience” as qualification.