Problems with a community college police training program − closed May 8 after officials said there were serious injuries to students − did not originate with instructors, but with the community college that picked non-certified role players, the Transylvania County sheriff has said.
Sheriff Chuck Owenby spoke out Aug. 9 in defense of his captain Chase Owen, one of six instructors suspended after a state commission found "egregious" rule violations including physical and verbal abuse of students in the Blue Ridge Community College Basic Law Enforcement Training program in Henderson County.
"Blue Ridge Community College provided the role players for the patrol techniques," Owenby told the Citizen Times. "Chase had no say in who his role players were. Had he had the opportunity to pick his own role players and set his staff up like he needed, he could have made sure he had certified instructors."
Owen did not respond to a call and email from the Citizen Times.
Blue Ridge spokesperson Erica Allison on Aug. 9 said the sheriff was correct that the "college engaged the role players, just as they did instructors for the BLET Program."
The commission shut down Blue Ridge's BLET program for five years.
The Citizen Times also reached out to the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission, the body that will hold hearings for the six instructors starting Aug. 21. If the commission finds against them, penalties could rise to the level of revocation of instructor certification or even loss of law enforcement certification.
While some violations involved administrative problems, such as not ensuring instructors used commission-approved lesson plans, the most serious issues surrounded classes involving direct physical contact, primarily in the Subject Control Arrest Techniques training, the justice standards commission said.
Justice standards officials cited the use of non-certified instructors who were skilled in martial arts and used what they said were excessive violence against students.
"Students received direct strikes to the head, and when the strikes were hard enough to displace student protective headgear, the headgear was not replaced yet strikes to the head continued," justice standards division director Jeffrey Smythe said in a May 21 letter to the college. Smythe said that kicks, uppercuts and other blows were enough to cause a "variety of significant injuries."
The non-certified role players were also used outside SCAT, in classes such as Patrol Techniques, which Owen taught and in which student suffered a broken vertebrae .
Owenby, the Transylvania County sheriff, said that student was one of his employees and that he is now back to work and was training under Chase, his supervisor.
"So, there's no ill-will or anything like that. Chase just got wrapped up with this because he had an injury in his class," said the sheriff who praised Owen for his professionalism.
Other potential violations involved more administrative problems, such as not ensuring instructors used commission-approved lesson plans, the commission said.
The six suspended trainers are: Waynesville Police Chief David Adams ; Bryan Baldwin; Joseph Ellis, Brevard Commander of Investigations Dan Godman; Columbus Police Chief Scott Hamby; and Owen, a captain in charge of operations.
Prior to Owenby's comments, none of the trainers or their supervisors had spoken in detail about the suspensions.
The Citizen Times has sought to report any high-level positions held by the trainers and has previously written about Adams and Godman. Records obtained by the Citizen Times listed Hamby and Owen by their first names − though they go by their middle names − making it more difficult to connect them to their positions.
The Citizen Times reached out Aug. 9 via phone and email to Hamby.
Tim Barth, the town manager for Columbus, the seat of Polk County, said he and town elected officials were aware of Hamby's suspension. As town manager, Barth is responsible for overseeing the chief and other department heads.
"The investigation needs to be completed before anything would be done," Barth said, declining further comment.
Hamby was promoted from within the department to chief in 2018. Prior to that he was with the N.C. Highway Patrol. The Citizen Times on Aug. 9 requested Hamby's personnel file.
The sheriff and his now-operations manager competed in the 2022 Republican primary, with Owenby winning by a narrow margin. The Citizen Times also requested Owen's personnel file.
Four of the suspended instructors were Subject Control Arrest Techniques trainers: Adams, Ellis, Godman and Hamby. Two were certified general instructors: Baldwin and Owens.
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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times .
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Sheriff: college picked role players that injured students in Western NC police training
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