Mooresville Police Commission gets hiring update

MOORESVILLE — The Mooresville Metropolitan Police Department has received nine applications for the chief of police position, according to Mooresville Police Commission member Danny Lundy.

The town’s former police chief Richard Allen retired from the department in August after 37 years with the department.

During last Thursday’s meeting of the Mooresville Police Board of Commissioners, Lundy said he had talked to the town’s human resources (HR) firm — Waggoner, Irwin, Scheele & Associates — and that the list of candidates would likely be narrowed down to four candidates.

“They are still in the process of calling (candidate) references and verifying all of the information they have got,” Lundy said.

Lundy noted that the HR firm would like to speak with the members of the police commission in an executive session, which will take place at 4 p.m. today.

According to Lundy, the commission will go over the list of applicants, and the HR firm will help the members come up with questions.

“They should have it wittled down by next week so that we can actually start scheduling the interviews,” Lundy said Thursday.

Chief’s report

Interim Police Chief Lt. Kevin Julian told members of the commission that the department has ordered four cars for the police department.

Julian also gave a report on the responses by the department for the month of September.

According to Julian, the department had 243 incidents including 40 arrests, 44 citations and 206 warnings.

“There were 2,380 CAD calls,” Julian said. “There were 30 accidents, 27 of them were property damage, two of those where personal injury, there was one hit-and-run, and we had zero fatalities.”

Julian also reported 221.5 hours of overtime and comp time at 152 hours and 19,845 miles driven by the department in September.

No Shave November

During the meeting, Julian presented a request for No Shave November to members of the police commission.

Lundy told commission attorney Charles Braun that the directive would be a temporary suspension of the department’s grooming policy to help raise money for charity in November, a month dedicated to men’s health issues, including prostate cancer.

Lundy then asked Julian how the No Shave November would raise money.

Julian said officers could pay money to not have to shave, while noting that a female officer could pay to wear a color T-shirt with matching headband.

“I think your directive is sufficient to handle this situation since it is not a permanent change,” Braun said.

Julian said that the department has not determined which charity to donate the money.

In other business

• Julian reported that the department is looking at a few potential dispatchers who have experience with the program used by the department. He said that the department is hoping to get the positions filled quickly.

• The interim chief also noted that the department is getting positive feedback after recently implementing a Public Information Officer and releasing news releases after large incidents.

• Members Lundy and Fed Settle where both physically present during the meeting while member Ernie Wilson attended the meeting via telephone.

The next meeting of the Mooresville Police Board of Commissioners is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Mooresville Police Station, 445 S. Indiana St., Mooresville.

~ Published October 22, 2019 in The Mooresville Times