Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994 TAG: 9404180122
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Brown, a captain at the Police Department since 1986, is the town's new police chief, Town Manager Ron Secrist announced Thursday.
Brown now has the job he wanted - the position townsfolk and fellow officers had been telling him he was a shoo-in for.
Secrist called Brown the "right fit" for the town.
As word spread of his appointment, officers and other staff lined up outside Brown's office to wish him well.
"Really, his room was full ... .his new office," Lt. Walter Mosby said. Mosby has been acting as Brown's replacement while Brown carried out what were the temporary duties of chief.
"I think he had support from the department and the community and had the qualifications," Mosby said.
Frances Garst, data processing operator, has worked with Brown for 22 years. She said besides people filling up Brown's office, the phone lines had been jumping with congratulations, too.
"I think he'll do a great job, I really do," Garst said.
"I think the people in the Police Department are more happy than I am," Brown said.
Even off-duty officers were coming in to congratulate him. Phone calls were coming in from Richmond and Manassas. And employees in the town's Finance Department sent over a card signed by the workers.
Brown will be sworn in as chief Tuesday at the beginning of the Town Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Blacksburg Municipal Building at 300 S. Main St. He will make $50,500 a year.
Brown has been acting chief since January, when Don Carey resigned to become chief of police in Independence, Mo. Brown beat out 139 other applicants from across the country, making it to a list of seven semifinalists, then three finalists.
Secrist was traveling Thursday and couldn't be reached for comment. But in a news release, he said Brown "may well be the perfect police chief for Blacksburg.''
... .His genuine interest in people and their needs and concerns and his attempt to always go the extra mile to find a positive solution to every problem is an inspiration to all town employees."
Brown said even though an in-house person was selected for the job, the national search was important.
"It gives them the opportunity to compare you to outside candidates," he said.
Brown, who has an associate's degree from New River Community College and is a graduate of the FBI Academy, believes his experience and educational background is appropriate for Blacksburg's melting-pot community of blue collar workers, students and professionals.
"Regardless of the makeup of your community, your time is their time," Brown said. Whether the citizen be homeless, illiterate, a student or a major landowner, "you don't respond to them any differently."
Brown, 46 and a Vietnam veteran, has spent half his life as a police officer for the town. He joined the department in 1970, becoming the first black officer in the New River Valley. He was promoted to corporal three years later, then progressed up the ranks to sergeant, lieutenant and finally captain of the Police Operations Division.
It was there that he helped shape department policy and response to such issues as Ku Klux Klan marches, racial issues in the town-university community and media relations.
One of the last things Carey told him, Brown said, was "You don't believe this but you are going to be the next police chief in Blacksburg."
One of Carey's last gifts to Brown when he left was a package of antacid tablets.
"The Tums is still sealed and it's still on my desk and I don't have any intentions of using it," said Brown.
What else would you expect of a man who says his motto is: "My attitude is always positive" ?
by CNB