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Five finalists for the job of the University's public safety director are
visiting the campus this month.
Those visits include public forums during which the community can meet and ask
questions of each candidate.
The Gazette went to press in the midst of the five forums that started on July
6 and end July 16. Each forum was scheduled for 1 p.m. in Room 226 of the Frank
Porter Graham Student Union.
The two forums held before the Gazette went to press each drew about a dozen
people to hear what the finalists had to say.
The forums are one way for questions and input from the public to be part of
the search for a new public safety director, said Sue Estroff, chair of the
search committee and professor of social medicine.
The forum dates and finalists are:
* July 6 - Michael D. Hoke, police chief, Meredith College, Raleigh.
* July 9 - Derek K. Poarch, operations commander, Lenoir (N.C.) Police
Department.
* July 13 - James E. Kohl, public safety director, Cedar Falls, Iowa.
* July 15 - Robert A. Carlisle, commander, Criminal Investigations Bureau,
Fairfax (Va.) County Police.
* July 16 - Charles M. Tiffin, research, training and planning commander,
Durham Police Department.
Hoke has been at Meredith for three years. He spent 25 years in the U.S.
Marine Corps, including assignments as lieutenant colonel provost marshal at
Camp LeJeune in North Carolina and Camp Butler in Okinawa, Japan. He holds a
master's degree from George Washington University and is a graduate of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Academy.
Poarch has 19 years of police experience in Lenoir, where he has been
commander of the patrol and detective divisions, juvenile officer and patrol
officer. A commissioner on the N.C. Criminal Justice Education and Training
Standards Commission, he earned a master's degree from the University of South
Carolina, graduated from the Southern Police Institute and has been a technical
consultant for the Police Executive Research Forum.
Kohl is a 28-year law enforcement veteran. He has been public safety director
and police chief in Meridian Township in Michigan as well as a patrol officer,
sergeant, lieutenant and legal adviser for the Detroit Police Department. He
holds master's and law degrees from the University of Detroit and is a graduate
of the FBI National Academy.
Carlisle has spent 20 years in Fairfax County. He has commanded the patrol
bureau, personnel division and district stations. He has been director of the
Public Safety Academy, a staff duty officer, a tactical section team leader for
the special operations division, and a patrol supervisor and officer. A
graduate of the FBI National Academy, Carlisle has a master's degree from
George Mason University and has consulted with the Police Foundation on issues
including community policing and diversity.
Tiffin has 21 years of law enforcement experience. He has been a district
commander, precinct commander, watch commander, patrol supervisor and public
safety officer for the Durham police. He also served in the U.S. Army's police
investigations unit. Tiffin has a doctorate from Union Institute in Cincinnati
and a master's degree from Duke University, is a graduate of the Southern
Police Institute and has received a Fulbright fellowship for police studies.
The search committee considered about 80 candidates in what Estroff, the
committee chair, described as a "comprehensive national search." The committee
selected eight candidates to participate in an evaluation process in Chapel
Hill, which involved an expert panel of campus and municipal law enforcement
officials from across North Carolina. That evaluation led to the selection of
the five finalists, Estroff said.
"I'm pleased with the overall quality of the candidates our search attracted,"
Estroff said. She also credited a recent reclassification of the job of public
safety director, which allowed a higher salary, for helping to attract good
candidates.
Estroff said her committee expects to recommend three finalists to Chancellor
Michael Hooker, who will select the new public safety director. Since more
background checks will be needed before Hooker can make the selection official,
Estroff said she expected it would still take weeks to announce the new public
safety director.
Anyone with comments for the search committee may e-mail Estroff at
see@med.unc.edu
The person selected will fill a vacancy created in February after the
resignation of Donald Gold. The department has an $11 million budget and
responsibility for law enforcement as well as transportation and parking. It
includes 149 employees, 38 of whom are sworn police officers.
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