Black Mountain Police Chief reflects on two passions: career and community
Shawn Freeman retires after 30 years in law enforcement
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
July 31, 2021
Chief Shawn Freeman retired from his position at the Black Mountain Police Department, July 29, after a 30-year career in law enforcement. Photo by Fred McCormick
Shawn Freeman didn’t want to change too much too soon in May of 2017, when he stepped into his new office at the Black Mountain Police Department for the first time. He was far more interested in getting to know the community he was serving and the officers now under his command.
Four years later, as he retired from a 30-year career in law enforcement and prepared to leave the building for the last time as chief, he found it hard to say goodbye to both.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Freeman said of July 29, his final day on the job. “On one hand, I’m looking forward to spending more time with my wife and daughter, but this staff is second to none I’ve ever worked with, and the support of this community for its police department is absolutely amazing.”
The U.S. Air Force Veteran who served in Operations Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Southern Watch in the Gulf War, didn’t know a lot about Black Mountain when he applied to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of his predecessor, Steve Padgett.
“I used to come here with my daughter sometimes to eat at Dr. Pepper’s, a little restaurant that used to be on Cherry Street,” said Freeman, who was the chief of the department in Beech Mountain at the time. “When this position came open, I started doing research on the town and thought it looked like a good opportunity. I was a little hesitant about applying, because I was happy where I was at the time, but my wife told me I was going to put in for it.”
Once he accepted the position, Freeman wasted little time getting to know the people in his new town, making multiple trips to the Swannanoa Valley before his first official day of work.
“I wanted to learn what was working and what wasn’t working,” he said. “I knew this department had a solid foundation that was built by the chiefs who were here before me, so I just wanted to figure out ways to take things to the next level.”
Freeman began his law enforcement career in 1991, in Morganton, where he was introduced to the philosophy of community policing, a strategy that emphasizes building relationships with the public.
“Back then, we didn’t have access to the internet, or Google, but I started doing my own research to learn what community policing really was, and how it played a role in law enforcement,” he said. “You would hear the term, but you were never really taught what community policing was.”
He spent the early days of his career going door-to-door, meeting and getting to know the people in the neighborhood he was working. As those relationships grew over time, he found that open communication between the public and law enforcement was a valuable tool for addressing needs in the community.
While working with the local housing authority through the Morganton Department of Public Safety’s Blue Elves program, which delivers holiday gifts to families in need, he witnessed something that would inspire him throughout his law enforcement career.
“There was a kid who won a bicycle, and before he could claim it, the child behind him started crying,” Freeman recalled. “When the boy with the winning ticket asked the other boy why he was crying, he said he didn’t have a bicycle. The kid who won the bike traded his winning ticket to the boy who didn’t have one.”
Freeman would later find out that the child who passed on the bike also didn’t have one.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “This kid’s bike had been stolen the week before, and he gave up his chance to get one because he didn’t want to see someone else cry on Christmas. That was a powerful moment for me.”
Freeman and his fellow officers collected money to purchase a new bike, helmet and lock, and the experience shaped the young officer’s future.
“I really learned that life is about helping other people,” he said. “My wife and I have been doing this now for years.”
That philosophy was something Freeman took with him when he left Morganton in 2000 for Bald Head Island, where he would become the assistant chief. His approach of building strong bonds between local law enforcement and the community was a welcome one in Black Mountain.
“This is the most generous community I’ve ever seen,” said Freeman, who re-established the department’s Thanksgiving and Christmas giveaways for local families in his first year. The program replaced a similar initiative that was started by longtime BMPD officer Johnny Raines and is now facilitated by the Swannanoa Valley Christian Ministry.
The department has given away Thanksgiving meals and Christmas gifts, including bikes, to dozens of families and seniors around the Swannanoa Valley since 2017. That partnership between BMPD and the community is one that Freeman cherishes.
“I want people to feel comfortable talking to us, and I’ve always asked my staff to get to know as many people on a first-name basis as possible,” he said. “The better you know the community, the better you can respond to its needs.”
Residents and business owners have not only been receptive to the concept of maintaining a strong bond with the department, according to Freeman, they have also been generous. When K-9 Cayman joined the force in 2018, a local resident purchased a ballistics vest and food for the Belgian Malinois. In 2019, after officers apprehended an armed robbery suspect following a chase, a man who lived near the scene purchased new assault rifles for the department.
“Some of the support we’ve had just in my time here has been unbelievable,” Freeman said.
Internally, the chief has encouraged his staff to communicate openly and freely share ideas for improving the department.
“Our supervisors monitor trends, locally and nationwide, so we can make sure we can head off anything that could potentially impact us here,” he said. “If you’re not constantly looking at what you’re doing right and wrong, you tend to become less productive. So we are constantly reassissing and reexamining how we do things.”
The leadership of Freeman was a consistent theme as Black Mountain officials gathered in the department’s training room to celebrate his retirement.
“I had a great career here,” said Rob Austin, who retired from the department as a major in 2020. “Before Chief Freeman got here we were a growing department. When he came in and got settled, he told us we had some work to do.”
Austin credited Freeman for the growth of the department in recent years.
“This department is what it is today because of his leadership,” he continued. “I consider him a good friend, and it was an honor to serve with him.”
Filling the vacancy left by the chief’s retirement will not be easy for the town, according to Town Councilman Archie Pertiller, Jr.
“I’ve known a lot of chiefs, but you impressed me with your leadership, the way you carry yourself and your expectations for this department,” he said to Freeman. “We’ll be able to replace the position, but not the man.”
Freeman will remain with the department in a reserve role while exploring post-retirement opportunities.
“I will say that I’m not done in the Swannanoa Valley,” he said. “I love this place, and even though I don’t have a home in Black Mountain, any way I can help better my profession or improve service to the citizens here, that’s where my focus is going to be.”