West named as Goldsboro police chief
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 8, 2016 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Police Chief Michael West poses for a photo at City Hall Monday night. The announcement that West had been promoted to Chief was made during the City Council meeting.
City Manager Scott Stevens announced before the City Council Monday night that the testing and hiring process to fill Goldsboro's vacant police chief slot has ended.
Stevens promoted Michael West -- having served as interim chief since Jeff Stewart retired in July 2015 -- to the top spot within the department.
West beat out 29 applicants from 12 states, six of whom were slated for interviews and testing, but only four of whom showed up and were put through the paces.
"We scheduled six candidates for a mini-assessment, which we held last week. The mini-assessment involved nine community, law enforcement and staff members broken up into groups of three," Stevens said.
The candidates endured written and oral testing as well as a structured interview. Once Stevens whittled the field down to two candidates -- West and another applicant -- he met individually for 30 minutes with each of them before reaching his final conclusion. He then took the weekend to mull over his decision.
"My duty was to find the best person to be police chief of Goldsboro," Stevens said. "I think (West) has the potential to be a great chief for Goldsboro."
Both Stevens and West admit the learning curve will continue as the "interim" is dropped from his title and he settles permanently into his office. But with support from within the department and from the community, both men said they are confident the right choice has been made.
"I definitely appreciate that the city manager has got confidence in me, I do appreciate that," West said. "The city had confidence enough to hire me 23 years ago, and I was committed to the department back then and the citizens of Goldsboro, and I am still committed to them."
West said the testing and interview process was difficult, as he expected it would be, but much of the stress was due to his mother passing away a week before the tests began.
"I had all of my emotions, and my thoughts and my feelings were kind of all there, so I prepared for the assessment, but I only prepared for it a couple of days out," he said.
By circumstance, West was able to avoid obsessing over the "what-ifs" and all the mental stress and anxiety generally associated with testing for promotions and interviewing for a big job.
But it has been an emotional ride for West ever since he was asked to step into the role vacated by Stewart's retirement last summer. Not only did he know he was partially auditioning for the job he wanted, both of his parents were alive to see their son on the precipice of the top rank in his chosen field.
"Both my parents were there when I was sworn in, so at least they got to see that," West said. "But my father passed away four months ago. I was interim chief at the time so at least I had the "chief" title."
West said he believes both of his parents would continue to be proud of him. He took time to thank his wife, Stephanie, who he says has been very supportive and patient throughout the his entire career.
"The ups and downs, the time away from home," West said. "She has been very supportive. And I'd also like to thank the officers, the other majors, some of my support staff," he said.
When West took over for Stewart, each of the other members of the police department's command staff had to take on more responsibilities, too, he said.
"Early on, when I took over for (Stewart) I didn't realize just how much time away from the office it took. I am not in the office a whole lot, so they are out doing double duty," West said. "There are a lot of people I plan on talking to tomorrow and thanking for their help"
West said he was glad the process was over, but he would in no way "slack off" now that he is cemented in his position.
Just the opposite, he said.
"I am going to keep my foot down," he said. "I am really looking forward to it. I think the department is in a great position to move forward."