Chief finalists have Raleigh histories

RALEIGH -- The two finalists named Friday for Raleigh police chief both have strong roots in the department they want to lead, signaling continuity rather than radical change once the choice is made.

Interim chief Kent Sholar, 46, is the up-from-the-ranks insider who has spent his 24-year career with the Raleigh Police Department, rising from patrol officer to detective and district commander before being named deputy chief late last year.

In March, Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen picked Sholar as interim chief after Jane Perlov resigned to manage national and international security for Bank of America in Charlotte.

Grand Rapids (Mich.) Police Chief Harry Dolan, 49, served five years as a patrol officer in Raleigh after being named the most outstanding graduate of the Raleigh Police Academy in 1982. Since leaving Raleigh, Dolan has been a chief in Black Mountain, Lumberton and, for the past nine years, Michigan's second-largest city.

"Both of them understand how Raleigh works," said retired Raleigh police Maj. Ralph Strickland, a friend of the two finalists. "They're both good administrators and both good at relating to the cop on the street. There's no way Raleigh can lose on this."

Whoever gets the nod will inherit the top police job in a prosperous city with an overall major crime rate that has fallen seven straight years, but a pace of growth that strains schools, roads -- and city services such as fire and police.

There are key differences in the career paths of the two finalists.

Dolan, who started his career as a deputy in the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, spent only a short time on the street, but has been a police chief for 20 years. In Lumberton and Grand Rapids, he instituted community policing programs that emphasize officers getting out of their cars and getting to know the people in their patrol zones. He is a nationally known expert on this style of law enforcement.

Sholar is the more street-savvy cop. He's a former narcotics detective and headed the homicide squad before moving up to district commander and deputy chief. He's also a veteran of Perlov's shift to a less-centralized model based on seven police districts.

"I don't think either one would do a 180 in a different direction, but each one will put their own stamp on the department," Strickland said.

Sholar grew up on a 40-acre Duplin County tobacco farm and was enrolled at N.C. State until he lost his zeal for engineering and decided to study criminal justice at Wake Tech. He declined comment when asked what changes he would make if picked to be chief. But late last year, when named deputy chief, he said life on the farm made him appreciate the value of hard work and discipline.

Dolan said it would be presumptuous to say what he'd do as chief without lengthy talks with rank-and-file officers, city officials, community leaders and citizens. But he also said the department faces the challenges of the city's rapid growth and the need to keep pace with that change.

"They have a very strong foundation in community policing," Dolan said of Raleigh police. "I wouldn't propose to have a plan at the ready."

2 out of 45

Allen picked Sholar and Dolan as finalists after a team that included Fire Chief John McGrath and Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison reviewed 45 applications for the job Perlov had held since September 2001, just nine days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

On Thursday, the finalists will appear before the department rank-in-file at a morning forum at Raleigh City Hall, followed by an evening forum for citizens and city council members, said Allen, who will make the final choice.