Roberto Bryan is Fayetteville’s newest police chief.
Bryan, whose tenure began on July 7, joined the department from his previous job as police chief at Fayetteville State University, a role he was appointed to in 2022 after three years as a major in the Fayetteville Police Department. Prior to that, Bryan worked at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for 22 years, where he served as a special agent and section chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Byran is also a U.S. Army veteran.
In an exclusive interview, CityView spoke with Bryan about the state of public safety in Fayetteville, the Fayetteville Police Department and his goals and expectations as chief. Over the course of the 30 minute interview, the softspoken chief talked about ideas as frequently as he discussed daily operations.
Here’s what the new chief had to say. (Editor’s note: The police department did not allow CityView to ask questions related to the city’s youth curfew and the department’s stance on cooperating with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.)
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You’re a Fayetteville native. You have strong ties to the city. How does your familiarity and experience with the community shape your approach to public safety here and your job as chief?
When I arrived here, I was about 10 years old, with my dad being stationed at the 82nd Airborne Division on Fort Bragg. So I’m actually a native of Panama. My parents are both immigrants of Panama. They immigrated and my dad joined the military and part of that tour was here at Fort Bragg. I understand how it is to grow up here. I know the military community. I’m familiar with Fayetteville, Spring Lake, just from growing up here. I know how it is and how it was to go to Friday night football games and skate night at Eutaw Shopping Center where Gilbert Baez was the DJ. So I have a lot of those culture references. But I also remember when there was a shooting at Pine Forest in 1986. It was actually one of the first school shootings that made nationwide news. So I remember those times as well. So for me, I have a really in-depth knowledge of the city, the culture and what it has to offer, and so I have a vested interest in making sure that we keep our city safe.
What is something you’re most enthusiastic about bringing to the Fayetteville Police Department?
What I look to bring is positivity. I think — maybe I’m optimistic there — but I think there’s a lot of good things that’s out there that we can bring together in collaboration with nonprofits, other agencies and the community. I’m very optimistic and that is the spirit that I want to bring to the department, of optimism and positivity, internally and externally.
How long could you see yourself as police chief if you feel comfortable in the role?
My commitment to the city manager is five years. So I’m gonna do five years, and I think it’s going to take at least that amount of time to make change in this department. In order to make that significant change, you have to spend some time here. I mean, this is a huge department. I spent three years at Fayetteville State and I was able to do a lot of things quicker because it’s a smaller footprint. The footprint that we have here is significant, so it’s going to take more time. And so I easily see myself being here for five years.
What are the biggest challenges facing the Fayetteville Police Department and how do you plan to address them?
Our staffing is our biggest issue. And how I plan to address it is by making sure that the folks that are working here are happy to be here. They feel supported, not only by the police chief and the command staff, but also by the community.
I want to make sure that we leverage a relationship with the community so that they understand when things do happen, and we have a critical incident, that they know and they have the faith and the confidence in the department that we’re going to investigate it unbiasedly or make sure that we have an outside source that comes in and does the investigation while we do our parallel investigation administratively. But for me, I think when we create an environment where people actually enjoy coming to work, that’s going to be leaps and bounds in having them to recruit folks to come and work for us.
I want to make this department one of the most attractive places to work in the city, if not in the state. We’re going to do that by taking care of our people, engaging them and making them feel valued.
After a significant decrease in 2024, homicides are up again, with 26 incidents so far this year compared to 15 at this time last year. What are some concrete steps you’re implementing or planning to implement to reduce homicides in the city and combat violent crime?
Right now, we are getting briefed on what is going on and looking at the data to figure out what’s the best way to address these issues. But what I would say is there’s conversations already taking place with our other local partners, state and federal partners as to what we can do to combat these issues, to have what we call a local impact. So stand by for further information on that. But we are coming up with some initiatives that we plan to implement.
Going from working at the DEA for so long, I imagine you’re very used to collaborating with federal partners.
Yes, I’m leveraging all those relationships, and I would say, by far, that’s probably one of my strong points in rapport-building and maintaining relationships. I think that’s definitely one of my strengths. And I plan to utilize that for the benefit of the city and the department.
The Office of Community Safety is a new city department focused on enhancing public safety through community-based strategies and partnerships. How are you planning to collaborate with the OCS?
I’ve spoken with OCS Director John Jones on many occasions, and we’re going to be partnering with several initiatives. I’ve already spoken with him on several little ideas that we have together. So, you’ll see us working a lot together. I think it’s an excellent idea because some of the things that they can do will relieve the responsibility off the police. And so I see it as a great partnership.
Police departments are increasingly utilizing surveillance technologies as crime-stopping measures. One of the tools that has been frequently discussed at Fayetteville City Council meetings is the ShotSpotter technology, which uses remote sensors to detect gunshots miles away. Critics of the technology are concerned it is monitoring people’s sounds without their consent. I’m curious how you balance the use of new surveillance technologies with the need to respect the privacy rights of citizens?
Cameras are everywhere now. If you go to New York City or any major city, really, cameras are everywhere. So when we talk about balancing the rights of privacy, that would always be on the front part of any initiative that we’re doing. And that’s what we’re talking about, building trust and confidence, that we’re utilizing this technology for the right reasons and not for the wrong reasons. In terms of that, there’s always policies and procedures in place. Whenever we think about anything, we always have our attorneys to make sure that they keep us on track, that we’re not violating anyone’s rights.
I’m familiar with ShotSpotter, because when I was previously at the Fayetteville Police Department, I was part of the team that was bringing that technology here. What I would say is when we have a sound, if there’s a gunshot sound — that’s something of danger. And for anyone to have an issue about us investigating or responding to that, they need to really kind of reevaluate what their mindset is, because would you rather us coming to the aid or coming to a sound that we know that is verified as a gunshot, versus just waiting for somebody to call? And there’s been proven instances and examples where police responded to ShotSpotter throughout the nation where it actually helped save somebody’s life because we got there ahead of someone’s call. So that’s where I see it. We just have to use some common sense in it in terms of making sure we’re not utilizing technology to limit people’s rights.
What keeps you up at night?
Because I’ve had 30 years in this business, I’ve faced a lot and seen a lot. I’ve seen the worst of situations, and everything else. So there’s not a whole lot that can really impact me, because I got a lot of that exposure. Of course, I’m always concerned about the safety of our community, and I definitely want to ensure that, and make sure that our officers are doing the best with what we have right now. And doing everything and making sure that I’m supporting our officers and our non-sworn personnel to give them the tools and resources to do the best job that they can do for our community. So as long as I can do that. And it’s going to take some time. It’s going to take some time. And with the support of the city council, the mayor and city manager, I feel that we will get there.
In the past two years, four Fayetteville police officers have been charged with crimes and fired from the department. You’re coming in. What kind of steps are you taking to ensure that this doesn’t happen again?
We can’t avoid what individuals do. Those crimes that those individuals that were arrested for, there was nothing that the chief at that time could have done, because those are choices that those individuals made. But what I will guarantee you is when we are aware of those situations, we will deal with them, and they will be held accountable. And if that accountability is days off or being fired or arrested, this is what we will do. It’s no different than somebody committing a crime out there on the street. They made that choice to make that crime.
Can you address the concerns that some community members have about police brutality and excessive force, especially in regards to racial bias or residents being killed by officers? What steps are you taking to prevent those instances from happening or to be more aware of them?
There’s always training. We always have to continue training, and one of the things that I would like to make sure that we’re doing is that during our assembly, I’d like for our sergeants to talk about current events that we see and then just have that discussion with their squads. “Hey, what do you think about this?” And you generate conversations and you make folks think about the actions. And, you know, it’s not whether or not we “Monday-morning quarterback” those officers of the situation, but it just puts us to think about what could he or she have done better to avoid that situation. And I think there’s always lessons to be learned, and we have to continue educating ourselves, especially because we have a young force. And that’s one of the things, I think, just being proactive to discuss and have dialogue about these things or what we could have done to prevent these certain situations.
And I would say training is definitely a controlled environment, and you never know what somebody may be reacting to. But that’s why we have to continue training, because when you continue training on a repetitive basis, then at that point you’ll be able to go ahead and lock in a response, a more positive response that we want to achieve.
Regarding racial biases, just one of the things — and I stated in my speech on Friday — if you treat people like you want your mother and your father, your son or daughter to be treated, we will be fine. Just treat people with respect and be professional, and I think as long as you do that, we will always be fine.
What is one thing you absolutely want to see through and have accomplished when your work here is done?
I want to have more than 75% of those vacancies filled. (Editor’s note: There are currently about 100 vacancies in the police department.)
And now the big question: What do you hope your legacy as police chief will be?
It’s really hard to say because this is so far ahead, but what I would want to make sure of is that my legacy is one of fairness, respect, transparency, and just being a person that aims to do the right thing all the time. Not just externally or internally, but all the time. Because I think too many times we put the responsibility on the police in terms of some of these high expectations. But I also have high expectations. And for me, I think we need to live up to those expectations. And there’s always mistakes, but I want my legacy to be one that people said, “Hey, I appreciated working for Chief Bryan because he had an environment of fairness, he’s going to do the right thing.” And that’s for the public to feel the same way. To have that confidence and that trust in the way that I lead.
Government accountability reporter Evey Weisblat can be reached at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
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