Black Mountain names new police chief

Maggie Valley Chief Russell Gilliland selected to lead department

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
August 23, 2021

Maggie Valley Police Chief Russell Gilliland will transition into the same role with the Black Mountain Police Department, Sept. 20. Photo courtesy of Maggie Valley Police Department

The search to find a new leader of the Black Mountain Police Department produced candidates from around the country, but ended 50 miles away in Maggie Valley. 

Russell Gilliland, a native of Haywood County and chief of the department with which he began his career in 1984, will move into the same role in Black Mountain, beginning Monday, Sept. 20. 

Approximately 20 applicants sought to fill the vacancy created when previous chief, Shawn Freeman, retired, July 30. Town Manager Josh Harrold selected eight candidates from the pool of applicants to submit written responses to a series of questions. Five of those candidates advanced to the next round of the process, which included interviews by a six-person panel composed of town department heads, staff and town council member Archie Pertiller, Jr. 

“I was really interested in interviewing people who had previous experience as a chief for this position,” Harrold said. “We had two candidates who were currently chiefs, and of course (Gilliland) was one of those.”

Gilliland was sworn in as the chief for the MVPD in the spring of 2017, after serving continuously with the department since 2006. He joined the department nearly four decades ago, serving under its first chief I.C. Sutton. Gilliland also spent time with the Waynesville Police Department and Haywood County Sheriff’s Department before returning to Maggie Valley. 

“What put him over the top for us was the fact that he was relatively local, and has experience working with people in the area,” Harrold said of Gilliland. “Maggie Valley is a smaller town than we are, but it also sees a significant boom in tourism every year. Having someone who has that kind of experience with a population boom during tourist season was important to me.”

The chief’s communication skills impressed the interview panel, according to the town manager.    

“When he came in for the interview, he came off as a very approachable person who is easy to talk to,” Harrold said. “Many of the people on the panel said after he left that they felt like they had been working with him for years.

“That’s important for us, as a town, to have people like that in leadership positions,” he continued. “It makes everyone’s jobs easier when the people in those roles have the ability to relate to people, and that’s the atmosphere that I like to have here in Black Mountain.”

An interest in serving the community he grew up in sparked Gilliland’s interest in law enforcement, he said in an Aug. 20 phone interview. 

“I feel like I have the heart of a servant,” he said. “Since I was a young man I wanted to be a part of public safety in my community.” 

The decision to leave the MVPD, which serves a population of approximately 1,700 citizens, was not an easy one, according to Gilliland, who was interested in the Black Mountain position based on what he heard about the town over the years. 

“Town governments throughout the state interact,” he said. “I knew from some of the employees in Black Mountain that it had a really good system of local government and great people working there.”

He was drawn to the opportunity to lead the department in Black Mountain, which serves a population roughly four times the size of his Maggie Valley. 

“I have family out that way, and it was definitely a department I was interested in,” he said. “Once I met Josh Harrold and the staff, they were very warm and welcoming. It was a team I wanted to be a part of.”

As Gilliland prepares to transition to Black Mountain, his priority is to meet one-on-one with each of the department’s staff and introduce himself to the community.  

“I want to talk to our employees and get their perspectives on the town and department,” he said. “I plan to meet our local business leaders pretty quickly, because I want to familiarize myself with the community and make sure that the community is familiar with me.”

The new chief is committed to maintaining and strengthening the bond between the department and local citizens. 

“The police department exists for the members of the community,” he said. “To paraphrase a quote from Sir Robert Peel, the father of modern policing: ‘the police are the community, and the community are the police.’ That ties us together, because without the community we can’t do our job.”

Gilliland’s community policing philosophy centers around transparency and communication. 

“Our community members have a voice, and they are valuable to us,” he said. “We’re here to support them with public safety, and we believe in extending that support even outside of law enforcement, whenever at all possible.”

The incoming police chief’s message to the citizens of Black Mountain emphasizes his role as a servant to the town. 

“I’m very approachable, and I want to meet as many people as I can and let them know I have a heart for our communities,” he said. “I’m here for public safety and I want to hear the voices of the people, because I want to serve them.”