Andrews – Caleb Stiles is the latest in a troublingly long list of Andrews police chiefs over the past two decades; his goal is to shut that revolving door and restore stability to the department – maybe even serve there until he retires.
At the age of 31, that sounds like a lofty goal. But it’s from a man who is both an Andrews native and one who has dedicated his life to public service.
Stiles was picked to lead the Andrews Police Department following the death of his predecessor, Rocky Burrell. Burrell, who died Sept. 28 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, faced criminal charges amid allegations that he falsified training documentation for courses he was paid to teach but allegedly didn’t.
Burrell was suspended as chief earlier in September, with assistant police chief David Southards appointed acting chief while things got sorted out.
The Andrews Board of Aldermen acted swiftly to replace Burrell, naming Stiles the new chief just two weeks after Burrell’s death. The speed of that process led Alderman Brandi Smith to warn that the town was moving too quickly, while Alderman Steve Jordan said it was time to move on.
Stiles has more than two months under his belt as chief of the small town police force. His assessments of the challenges he has faced so far, and expects to face in the future, are filled with cautious optimism.
The Andrews Police Department is in the former Andrews Town Hall building, a charming 1940s stone structure that it shared with town government. Administration moved out of the building earlier this year and renovations have been taking place on the building’s interior, a work in progress that will lead to a facility that should serve the police department well for years to come.
Stiles’ office is spartan. There’s a small couch, a desk, a computer and two chairs – one for Stiles, and one for any visitor who chooses it over the couch.
There’s nothing on the walls, and Stiles said he hasn’t been concerned about personalizing the space. All he really needs is the computer.
Stiles dresses in casual civilian clothes, with his badge and pistol on his belt, but plans to wear a uniform like the rest of the six officers in his department – the assistant chief, an investigator who just started on Dec. 6 and four patrol officers. The department also has an administrative assistant.
Like the building they work in, the department is still under construction.
The Andrews Police Department has faced severe turmoil over the past decade. At one point, every position was vacant, and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office provided law enforcement inside town limits.
Burrell, the cloud that he faced at the end of his life aside, was attacking the challenges, refilled the ranks and did a good job rebuilding the department, most town officials agree.
“In many ways, he set me up for success,” Stiles said of Burrell.
The department has a reliable fleet of vehicles; a spacious, modern workplace; and all the physical things a police department needs to operate efficiently.
Stiles has been focusing on other areas – procedures, professional standards, the annual training his officers need to remain certified, security of the evidence locker and so on.
One area is both his biggest challenge and one he is well suited for: visibility.
The department had three vacancies as he took the job – his own, an investigator and one patrol officer. Those positions have all been filled, including veteran officers as chief and investigator.
While the investigator just started, he brings years of experience to the job. The new patrol officer is being field trained and will soon start patrolling on his own. Another patrol officer somehow escaped the field training necessary for the job, so Stiles is taking care of that as well.
Stiles is a stickler for things like that – field training, keeping up with certifications, evidence security and right down to patrol officers filing reports promptly.
Stiles said he has also pushed his officers to be more visible. His officers have been performing driver license checkpoints and other proactive law enforcement. While it can’t be quantified with the available data, it just seems like Andrews police are out in greater numbers.
The other part of visibility is the chief himself. Stiles spends his time on duty in the field, partly explaining his lack of concern about decorating his office.
Stiles is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was assigned to a landing support battalion at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C.
Although every Marine is considered a basic infantry rifleman, LSB units focus on supporting infantry operations by distributing equipment, personnel and supplies by air, land and sea. His old unit’s motto is, “First in, last out.”
Stiles served one four-year enlistment in the Marines before leaving active duty at the rank of sergeant (pay grade E-5), a non-commissioned officer rank that runs squad-size units (a dozen or so Marines) or performs other tasks that require experience, skills and leadership.
Stiles was hoping to extend his service in the Marines and applied to join the Marine Forces Special Operations Command, the Marine Corps’ special operations forces that provide direct action, special reconnaissance and foreign internal defense.
He passed all of the necessary qualifications except one – swimming – and in the rarified air of Marine Corps special operations forces, if you fail one, you fail them all.
Stiles left active duty and got into law enforcement. His basic law enforcement training was at Tri-County Community College, where he was sponsored by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, but he paid for his schooling out of his own pocket.
Once on with the sheriff’s office, Stiles started as a transport officer, driving prisoners where they were needed. He worked in the Cherokee County Detention Center in Murphy for a time before moving out into the field as a patrol deputy.
During his eight years with the sheriff’s office, he has been a sergeant, detective and dog handler. Today, he’s in management and has to worry about things like personnel, budgets, equipment, training – a whole range of things that weren’t part of his job description ever before.
Stiles said he’s careful with spending (remember earlier about him not yet having a uniform? That’s one example) and is learning the ropes of being a department head for a small town.
It’s a small town he is well familiar with. He grew up just south of town on family land around McClelland and Snider creeks, not far from where the Collett Ridge Fire burned in the fall.
Though he shares a similar name, Stiles said he is unrelated to Cherokee County Commissioner Cal Stiles, although they each occasionally received the other’s email during his time with the sheriff’s office.
Chief Stiles lives in Graham County, where he and his wife are raising a blended family of children and stepchildren. He’s waiting for the cost of building materials to come down before building his new home on family land near Andrews, where he was raised.