Oakboro keeps police department, names interim police chief

A tense meeting between members of the Oakboro Town Board and residents ended in a split decision about the future of the town’s police department.

By a 3-2 vote, the board approved the continuation of the Oakboro Police Department, naming Jason Eschert as interim police chief.

Before an open forum, Town Administrator Georgia Harvey said “it takes time for all members of the board to meet and hear collective information.”

Harvey said she had met with Stanly County Sheriff Jeff Crisco “numerous times to discuss the current contract of filling the staffing gaps.” Crisco confirmed last Friday he had met with Oakboro representatives.

An open forum for citizens was opened by Eschert, who said he was sad to see former police chief T.J. Smith “have to resign and go to another agency.”

Eschert said the former chief told him he was forced to promote Eschert to assistant chief.

“I do not want a position that was forced upon someone else to put on me,” Eschert said.

The new interim chief said Harvey told him the former chief wanted to promote him, adding, “that is not correct.”

Eschert then produced a worn pair of boots, setting them on the podium and saying he had asked about one officer who needed new ones.

“This is embarrassing that he can’t get any boots, and I can’t get a response to get boots from us. It’s pathetic.”

Eschert also said all the police department’s personnel files were removed “without conversation,” and added Harvey has a key to the building, a violation of security standards because of possible access to a DCI (Division of Criminal Investigations) computer terminals.

He said the locks have been changed to the department’s evidence room and officers do not have access to it.

Many of the citizens speaking in the forum supported the town keeping its police department.

Commissioner Bud Smith made the motion to name Eschert as interim chief, saying his duties would include scheduling and all the aspects and duties of running the department. Smith’s motion also called for the vacancy of the police chief position to cbe posted by the end of the week.

The motion cwas seconded by Commissioner Joey Carpenter, who voted for the motion along with Smith and Commissioner Latoya Jackson.

Smith made his motion when asking to speak just before the agenda called for a closed session meeting to discuss personnel, attorney-client matters and contracts.

Commissioner Brett Barbee said the matter should be discussed in closed session, and before the board discussed in open session, warned the board “can not reveal any personnel matters” because “there is potential for lawsuits.”

Commissioner Lanny Hathcock said “the process of posting (a job vacancy) is not something you do overnight…you’re not going to get a police chief that the people want in a week’s time.”

Barbee said he was going to “flip every rock” to serve the community, but said “you’re not going to listen to anything I have to say. You’re not even giving the Stanly County Sheriff’s Office an opportunity at a savings of $274,000 a year that could be used to have a splash pad.”

Barbee said he saw the support for the Oakboro Police Department, but “due to personnel matters I can’t discuss…I do not support that man right there as an intern chief…for the things and actions he’s done that I’m not going to reveal to everybody,” referring to Eschert.

Eschert said he had a Facebook post of a comment Oakboro mayor Chris Huneycutt made “to somebody in the community.” He said if Barbee worried he was going to get sued, “Guess what? Be ready, buddy.” (Note: This paragraph was edited to reflect the correct person to whom Eschert was referring.)

Smith said he was frustrated because “we had a lot of police issues that stemmed from leadership that we had to entertain, that I thought was showing a pattern. This board did not get rid of T.J. Me personally, I talked real plain with T.J.”

Referring to a conversation with the former police chief, Smith said “in the heat of the moment, I probably did say some pretty strong things.”

“I’ve said it. I admitted it. Let’s get over it. T.J. resigned. He’s got another job. We need somebody to step in,” he said. “If you want to be mad at me, be mad at me. I hope you’re not going to burn my house down and threaten me.

After the meeting, Eschert said he was “shocked at where the situation has gone to lead to this point. I hate that TJ Smith had to leave a department and a community that he loved. He was not done right by the town of Oakboro.”

The town’s police department has had staffing issues this year, with at least five openings confirmed in the early spring. Smith’s final day as police chief was July 28.

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