The Fayetteville community on Tuesday had the opportunity to ask questions of the two men who are finalists to become the city’s next police chief.
Kemberle Braden and James Nolette, both assistant chiefs in the Police Department, are the finalists to replace Chief Gina Hawkins, who is retiring on Jan. 17. If no one is named by that date, the city has said that City Manager Doug Hewett will name an interim.
Hawkins has been with the Fayetteville Police Department since August 2017.
“To say that it is a tough decision — you can clearly see the strength of the team that Chief Hawkins has been able to build,” Hewett said. “To her credit, she promoted both to assistant chief and behind them we have other people. That’s a testament to not only her leadership but also their capabilities …
“It’s a very difficult decision,” Hewett said, “but one I have to make.”
The search for the new chief has been overseen by the city manager’s office.
“No one should ever question their motivation for this position,” moderator Stephen Straus said once the roughly 90-minute question-and-answer session had ended.
During the meeting, Nolette and Braden sat at separate tables in the City Council chambers and fielded questions read by Straus, who is with the search firm Developmental Associates of Chapel Hill.
Though they are competing for the same position, it was obvious the two veteran police officers have respect for each other. They have worked together for decades at the Police Department. Their responses to submitted questions were occasionally lighthearted, serious and even deeply personal at times.
They spoke with what appeared to be a sense of honesty and candor.
“I liked how it was put together — the format when they asked them questions,” 53-year-old Johnette Henderson said after the forum. “It’s a good way to get a feel of who these men are and how they work in the community.”
There were no questions regarding the controversial gun technology ShotSpotter, but the moderator touched on many issues that brought out thoughtful answers from the finalists.
The initial question was an obvious one. After asking them to introduce themselves, each was asked why he wants to be the next chief of police.
Braden answered first.
Braden, who is 49, is the field operations commander for the department. He supervises all the patrol operations and all the investigative operations. He has been with the Police Department for 27 years. His first patrol area was Murchison Road.
He’s married and together the couple has two grown children.
“Policing for me, I’ve said it before, I ended up in Fayetteville because my father is a retired service member out at Fort Bragg. He was a Vietnam-era Special Forces soldier, and I was raised here … To me, this is what I know to be home. My father had an opportunity to leave Fayetteville and go back home and be police chief in his hometown of Providence, Kentucky. That happened during my senior year in high school. So, I had some decisions to make. I stayed here in Fayetteville.
“For me — service — I think I inherited that from my father,” Braden said. “Almost 20-plus years in the military and almost another 20 years in law enforcement. And I think that rubbed off on me and my entire family. So, for me, after 27 years of service — and the positions I have held around the department — I think this is a natural progression. Every promotion that I have taken over the years, my goal has always been to pave the way for others to have the opportunities that I didn’t. As a supervisor, there’s always something that I wanted to do that I had to get permission. I truly wanted those who worked for me to have the opportunities that I didn’t have. That’s why I’m here.”
The 47-year-old Nolette said this was going to be tough for him because he’s “more a walker and a talker than a sit-down-at-a-desk kind of guy.”
“Like Kem, I have been here my whole career. I’m the field Specialized Services commander with the Fayetteville Police Department. All the really exciting stuff in policing — the patrol, the investigating —that’s all Kem. I do all the other stuff. I do the evidence room, the 911 Center, the logistical stuff behind the scenes. I get stuff done so that they can do their jobs successfully.”
He said he has been with the department for 23 years. He came here as part of the 82nd Airborne Division, in which he served for about six years.
Nolette said he has remained here since 1993 because he didn't want to have to go back home to Providence, Rhode Island, and shovel snow. Both his parents, he said, were police officers, and Nolette referred to himself as third-generation law enforcement.
“This is the family business,” he said.
“The reality is this is what I love,” said Nolette. “And this is my home. I married my wife about 13 years ago, and we have an 11-year-old son. We live in Fayetteville. There is no chance of us leaving anytime soon. Why do I want to be the chief? So, initially when I made the rank of sergeant, my goal was to just make the rank of captain so I would outrank my father. So that kind of pushed me. When I got the opportunity to get my eyes open to what executive policing is, and the size of policing outside the bubble of the city of Fayetteville, outside of the fact that the Fayetteville Police Department is just one piece of it. When you get outside of the city of Fayetteville you see how massive policing is, and it truly is amazing. This is an opportunity for me to bring my knowledge to the Fayetteville Police Department.”
Nolette said his first 60 days as chief would include a meeting with the troops, including the non-sworn members of his staff.
“They’re the backbone of what we do,” he said.
Another early effort as chief would be to establish as an organization where it’s heading into the future. “What do we expect to come out of this?” he asked rhetorically.
“We need to come together as a team and figure out what we see, what we do well and kind of work on bridging the gap within the employees and the community,” Nolette said. “So, my first few days is going out to the community and meeting them as well as having those meetings in the community. And having them internally within the organization. …”
Braden answered the question by saying he truly believed there is a dichotomy to policing. And, specifically, in leadership.
“We have to take a look at what we do internally and what we do externally,” he said. “I can’t argue with some of the things that Chief Nolette said. I think that’s important as a new leader that you make contact with those unit squads to address the morale of those units. Set the tone for the professionalism that you expect from the officers that work for you. They represent you and the Police Department on a day-to-day basis. We have to get out and lay out the groundwork for expectations and also we have to receive the expectations of those that we lead. As far as the community goes, and that’s the second part of the issue, I believe in an open house-type forum. So often we want the community to come to us. I’d like to go out to the different stations and potentially have meetings in the actual council districts where we can get a feel for what is going on out in the community. Knock on their door and ask, ‘What do you need?’ Community engagement is important, but it’s also important that they keep seeing us show up even when things aren’t the best.”
When asked why he entered law enforcement, Nolette replied to laughs, "Because mall security wasn't paying that well." He expounded on that by saying he became a police officer because he needed a job.
"Really," Nolette added, "just to emulate my Dad. He's my hero today. He was my hero then."
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Braden said he first started out as an EMT.
But after speaking with other police officers who worked out at the same gym, "It was the excitement of the job. I gained that interest in law enforcement. Just hearing the stories of what they did and all they went through. I thought to myself, that's something that would draw my interest for an entire career."
In terms of his approach to policing, Nolette said he was data-driven but also relationship based.
Braden countered by saying his approach to policing was one of accountability, both internally and externally.
A former officer with the Fayetteville department once told Braden when he was younger, "Help more people than you arrest."
"It took me a while to realize what he was talking about," he said. "As I got older, I truly tried to adhere to that and help more people than I arrest. So, basically in a nutshell, that's my approach."
Hewett said he will be meeting with both candidates on Wednesday for additional interviews.
Michael Futch covers Fayetteville and education for CityView. He can be reached at mfutch@cityviewnc.com.
