An "Emotionally Intelligent" Scenario For Asheboro's New Police Chief

I often wonder when John Ogburn morphed into Mitch Johnson. It's sad.

A featured story on the the Courier's sorry excuse for a website muses on Asheboro's search for a new police chief. Gary Mason retires on December 1 (before all the cases corrupted by a dirty evidence room blow up in Garland Yates' face).

The search is steeped heavily in politically-correct consultant-speak. The new applicant has to demonstrate technical-savvy and "emotional intelligence". For we have gangs and drug cartels to fight. Can't hurt their feelings.

I had to blink repeatedly as I read the Courier's (predictably gushing) article. Consultants rule (in this case, a company called "Developmental Associates"). I smell Bonnie Renfro.

How did Asheboro come to this?

The first step in the process his company will manage, Straus explained, will be spending time with key stakeholders in the city to gather specific information as to what the police chief in Asheboro will be facing, as well as what the duties and expectations will be.

Then Developmental Associates will design a series of exercises for the candidates (ala fake press conferences . . . after all, "spin" is the be-all-and-end-all) in which they can demonstrate their professional knowledge, the technical skills they possess to get the job done, overall leadership abilities and their emotional intelligence.

According to information on Developmental Associates’ website, emotional intelligence includes a range of qualities such as self-assessment, self-confidence and self-control and inspiration, empathy and adaptability.

But this is what got me: One of the benefits of the process, Straus noted, is that it helps remove any sense that the final selection is the result of behind-the-scenes machinations of the so-called “good old boy” network.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHO DOES STRAUS THINK "KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE CITY" ARE?

Did John Ogburn not learn ANYTHING from the farce of city government being conducted thirty miles north of Asheboro? What do these expensive consultants do EXCEPT PANDER to those pulling the strings . . . WHAT ELSE can you call this selection process but orchestrating the "behind-the-scenes-machinations"?

My God, these people think everyone in this town is stupid.

Here's what I would like to see in a new police chief:

I'd like to see an honest, plainspoken man (fat chance it will be a woman) . . . promoted from within the Department if at all possible . . . someone with a backbone . . . it might actually be better if they're not local . . . someone who does not pander to Asheboro's mill-town elite just to get along.

I'd like to see someone determined not just to go after the gangs, the drug dealers and the drunks (no thanks to "the whos"), but someone who was willing to take on some of the dirty "stake-holders" in Asheboro - you know, the ones who have white collars and suits - Asheboro's version of Wall Street.

I think that man (or woman) will be hard to find in this instance - because the "stakeholders" pulling the consultants' strings are too invested in the status quo.

But just for a moment, let's postulate that they're not.

Here's a scenario for Ogburn-Straus's "role-playing":

A local doctor (one of those "healthcare heros" the big guns say they cherish) walks into the police department with hard evidence that two prominent "non-profit" hospital administrators REPEATEDLY LIED UNDER OATH during their own SLAPP-suit . . . a suit designed to finish pummeling/humiliating the doctor and driving her out of town (an action shored up by tax dollars). The black and white of the documents in her hand prove perjury, contempt and fraud. The hospital is within the city limits - as is the courthouse. Jurisdiction falls to the police chief.

Does the police chief . . .

A. Accept the notarized documents for review
B. Allow the doctor to swear out a criminal complaint
C. Conduct a preliminary investigation
D. Upon review of those documents, refer the case to the NC Attorney General (because this one is WAY over the police chief's head)
E. A, B, C and D above.
F. None of the above. Ignore the doctor because the people she accuses are very important people and she is not.

Under Gary Mason's "administration", the answer was F.

Cue the buzzer. Of course, F equals FAILURE. And the correct answer, according to every law enforcement officere and lawyer I have chatted up outside of Randolph County, should be E.

I wonder if Asheboro will ever get a law enforcement officer with the courage and "emotional intelligence" to chose the correct answer.

With John Ogburn and Stephen Straus leading the search, I doubt it.

Cue sucking noises.