Sitting down with Asheville's interim chief of police: Asheville native discusses new role

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Mike Lamb, Asheville's interim chief of police, has more than 25 years of experience with Asheville Police Department, serving most recently as a deputy chief under David Zack, who resigned Friday.

Born and raised in Asheville, Lamb said chief is the job he has always wanted.

“I said, 'Well, I guess my ultimate goal would be to become chief of police at the Asheville Police Department,'” he said. “I just never expected that I would be here now.”

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Lamb was on vacation last week when Zack announced his intention to retire and then ultimately penned a letter of resignation.

When he was hired, Zack was APD's fifth chief in nine years. Lamb has not spoken with Zack since his resignation.

"When you have a quick turnover of chiefs of police, it can create a lot of unknowns, which equals instability within the agency,” Lamb said.

Despite the resignation, Lamb said he hopes to pick up where the former chief left off.

“Currently, our department is in a great place," he said. "I think we need to increase staffing. I am continually concerned about officer burnout and officer safety.”

Sworn staff stands at 174, according to Lamb. That is 64 short of being fully staffed.

Lamb said he hopes to attract more candidates by making pay and benefits more competitive.

Lamb has been pleased with the consistency of his executive staff and encouraged by staffing trends, but he said with limited resources it's hard to be everywhere at once.

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“We’re going to look at different ways that we can collaborate to try and show, not only an increased presence downtown, but also in other problem areas that we have," Lamb said.

That includes conversations with the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office about the possibility of having deputies downtown.

"I think that the last three years have been a testament to that because there’s been a reduction in that uniformed presence downtown and in other areas throughout the city," Lamb said. "With that reduction, there’s this permissive environment for crime to occur. So, I think if we increase presence, that will help.”

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Additionally, Lamb also is dealing with the city's ongoing homelessness crisis.

“It’s important for us to be able to be outreach and help the folks that need that help, but also hold people that are committing crimes and are out there being dangerous, hold them accountable for their behavior,” he said.

Asked if he was interested in removing the interim label from his title, Lamb said, "I hope. I hope when the time comes, I hope that I can be the full time-time chief of police for the Asheville Police Department.”