Midlands leadership | Challenges face new police chief

Negative publicity, high turnover at top plague Columbia department

By ISHMAEL TATE - itate@thestate.com

City officials and residents have a laundry list of issues for newly named Police Chief Tandy D. Carter to address.

Carter, now the police chief in Shelby, N.C., needs to:

• Reaffirm the relationship between the Police Department and the community

• Restore credibility to an institution rocked by a cheating scandal

• Provide consistent leadership to weary officers who have served under three different leaders since September

The previous chief, Dean Crisp, retired in September 2007 amid allegations he had taken family members onto crime scenes and pushed another officer. His replacement, interim chief Harold Reaves, resigned in November, citing family issues, and later returned to his previous position of Homeland Security director.

Norman Caldwell, a major and 34-year veteran of the department, has been interim chief.

Carter will report to Columbia for his first day May 1. His salary will be $108,500, city manager Charles Austin said.

“I want to get to know their abilities and make sure the right people are in the right places,” Carter said.

He also will watch and evaluate how officers interact with residents.

Carter said it’s too early to say which problem he will tackle first.

“Ask me that question in another three months,” he said.

THE CHALLENGES

Austin said re-establishing a rapport with the community is the most pressing issue for the new chief.

“Today signals a return to community policing as a philosophy at the Columbia Police Department,” he said.

Exactly what the approach looks like is up to Carter, Austin said.

Carter will take over a department with 298 sworn officers and 356 total employees with a $24 million budget, compared with Shelby, which has 85 employees and a $5 million budget.

Austin — who served as police chief from 1990 to 2001 before becoming city manager in 2003 — said the Columbia Police Department had been a pioneer in modern policing, but has suffered recently from a lack of credibility and internal division.

In the community, Carter must educate himself about his new city by meeting with residents, the business community and other local law enforcement agencies, residents and officials said.

Durham Carter, (no relation) the King Park Neighborhood Association president, said he was impressed with Carter’s experience in fighting gangs and drug activity, two issues plaguing residents of his Lower Waverly community.

“... I strongly feel we are losing our present generation to gangs and drugs,” he said.

In Shelby, Chief Carter helped get federal money to get guns off the streets and reduce violent crime.

He brings that experience and knowledge from his time as a chief deputy and interim chief for the Wilmington (N.C.) Police Department to Columbia.

“You take what you learn. You take your best practices and apply them to the next place,” Carter said, noting that ideas that started in Shelby are models for programs across the country.

Five Points business owners want a stronger police presence for their patrons after dark, said Five Points Business Association president Merritt McHaffie.

“Whether that means more staff or some kind of video surveillance, I don’t know,” she said.

Gable Oaks Tenants’ Association president Mary Myers said Carter will have to be a quick study on the job.

“We have to understand that Columbia ZIP code 29203 is going to be his biggest challenge, because that’s the biggest crime area in Columbia area right now,” she said.

There have been two fatal shootings at the complex since December. Several months ago Austin declared north Columbia, which includes ZIP code 29203, in crisis after a recent spate of high-profile violent events.

Gable Oaks falls into the area represented by city Councilman Sam Davis.

“Carter’s commitment to community policing is something I’m interested in,” Davis said.

BEST FIT

Austin said he was undecided about his choice as recently as last week. All three finalists would have made a fine chief, he said.

“What I had to do was evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in perspective of where thedepartment is right now,” he said.

Carter joins the department at a “pivotal period” in the agency’s history, Austin said.

Carter said the other finalists — Estelle Young, a captain with the Columbia Police Department, and Dan Johnson, an on-staff attorney with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department — each had great qualities. Austin said Carter was the best fit for Columbia right now.

Carter also had the dual distinction of not having any ties to Columbia and being the only remaining candidate with police chief experience.

Some residents were disappointed with Austin’s pick.

Myers said she preferred Young, who has been with the city department for 37 years.

“I felt like not choosing one who is familiar with the area and knows the force, that choosing someone not from the area, ... I didn’t think that was a good choice,” Myers said.

She said Carter would be challenged to learn the high-crime and drug-infested areas.

City Councilman Daniel Rickenmann said he was torn between Carter and another candidate he declined to identify.

“I was most impressed by his history leading a disciplined police force, his ability to lead, which we can see from his military and law enforcement background,” Rickenmann said.

The efforts of the Police Department are only a complement to real forces of change, Carter said.

“It has to do with the will of the people and the political leadership,” he said.

Reach Tate at (803) 771-8549.