Officer McMichael named as Elizabethtown’s new police chief

ELIZABETHTOWN – The Town of Elizabethtown announced May 13 that Lieutenant Mark McMichael, currently the Elizabethtown Police Department’s Patrol Commander, has been appointed the new Police Chief, effective June 28, 2024.

“We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mark McMichael as the new Police Chief for our town,” Town Manager Dane Rideout said, adding “After a thorough selection process, Mark clearly emerged as the candidate best suited to lead our police force, ensuring safety, trust and community engagement.”

“Mark brings over 20 years of dedicated service to the role, along with a deep commitment to serving and protecting our community. His leadership skills, integrity, and dedication to fostering positive relationships with residents make him an excellent fit for this important position.” Rideout said.

McMichael was born in upstate New York in Hudson just between Poughkeepsie and Albany.

“I grew up with a lot of farms,” he said. “People don’t believe me, but all it was, was apple farms and I actually grew up working on a farm with a lot of cows. It was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. We were in the country so we were outside all of the time. Mom and Dad didn’t have you in the house, but outside doing chores and handling the landscape. I also can remember that there were a lot of kids and I had an older sister and younger sister who kept me in the middle”

McMichael actually grew up on a farm that was close to a Gerber apple farm that raised pumpkin-sized apples that were used in their baby food merchandise.

“You wouldn’t want to take it to your teacher for their apple,” he said with a laugh.

The McMichael family moved to North Carolina with the retirement of his parents.

“They built a house in Bay Tree,” he said. “My junior/senior I finished up going to East Bladen High School. I was kind of easygoing and I played a lot of sports, so the move wasn’t as bad as you would have thought.”

McMichael who developed a love for all sports and played basketball, football and baseball both in New York and North Carolina said that he kept up with a lot of his friends from New York, and even convinced a few to relocate to North Carolina.

After graduating from EBHS, he went immediately to Bladen Community College.

“I started working on my two-year degree and went to UNC-Charlotte and started out in engineering,” he said. “It really wasn’t working for me. My second semester I started in criminal justice classes and fell in love with it.”

McMichael then went back to Bladen Community College and took his BLET (Basic Law Enforcement Training) and graduated in 2003.

“Shortly after that, I applied with Elizabethtown and I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

In addition to police work, McMichael wears many hats in the community including coaching Dixie Baseball. The experience of coaching a team was very similar to his work in law enforcement and has helped train him mentally for the upcoming role he is about to step into as Elizabethtown’s police chief.

“I’ve gotten hooked with Dixie youth,” he said. “It’s a love/hate relationship because you know, with my schedule right now it’s hard to get out there, but as soon as you walk out there you just get immersed in it and seeing children grow is… you can’t get a better joy than that.”

His official role doesn’t start until June 28 and Chief Tony Parrish will still be in his current position until that date, when he retires. McMichael also commented on his style and his philosophy going to the next level.

“My style and my philosophy has always been, I’m going to follow the leader,” he said. “As long as no one asks me to do anything illegal, unethical and immoral, I’m willing to do what it takes to get the job done. I just can’t violate any of those because they mean a lot to me. Part of us is our integrity and what that means to each of us. Integrity in itself is the act of doing what’s right even when it’s the hardest decision. Adhering to that takes a lot, and I want to continue that. I also want to keep a dialogue and communication is the key so that everyone understands that we are playing on the same team here. We have to have a goal to be fair to everybody.”

As far as getting the most out of his team – on the ball field or in the police headquarters, McMichael said that you have to know the individuals.

“You’ve got to know who they are personally,” he said. “You have to see what their strengths are, where they struggle and then encourage them to go on beyond what they think they can do. A lot of people cut themselves short and when things get hard they think ‘OK, this is the best that I can do,” and in reality it’s not. There have been plenty of mentors around me that showed me how to meet your goal and then right away put another goal in front of you.”

McMichael said that education is so critical to growth and that you can never put boundaries on who you may learn from. Whether it’s been young baseball players, rookie officers or seasoned veterans.

“Education is huge,” he said. “As a coach and as a leader on the force, you have to know that you don’t know everything. You need to be able to be the person that’s willing to go out and find the answers. That way you can help those around you.”

McMichael praises his wife who is always encouraging him and standing behind him and adores his children, Mark (the third), Lilian (who McMichael says is five, going on 25) and Mailen is set to be a teenager this year. As he does in his family, and with his team and with those who will serve under his tutelage, he has some definite ideas of how to pull the team together.

“It’s just letting them know that while I hold a title, that title doesn’t mean anything unless we work together,” he said. “We all need to come together as one person and have the same goals, and those goals need to be uniform and understood among all of us. Just because somebody is a ‘chief’ or a ‘lieutenant,’ when it comes down to it, we’re all humans and we have to understand where we are each coming from. We have a chain of command and we’re going to follow it, but at the same time, we are human and we can hear each other out. Again, communication to me through education and through just being a human being – it makes all the difference. Especially in today’s society.”

McMichael has been with the Elizabethtown Police Force since 2003, first as a Patrolman, then Criminal Investigator and more recently Patrol Commander. In 2023, McMichael was named Employee of the Year for the second time.

“Please join us in welcoming Mark McMichael to his new role as Police Chief,” Rideout said. “We are confident that under his guidance, the Elizabethtown Police Department will continue to uphold the highest standards of professionalism and service to our Town and citizens.”

McMichael is a member of several groups including the Bladen County Child Protection Team and Fatality Prevention Team, Bladen County Law Enforcement Association, Bladen Community College Continuing Education Emergency Service Advisory Committee, and the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council.

McMichael holds an Associate of Arts from Bladen Community College and a Bachelor of Science from Fayetteville State University.