Raeford police chief

The city of Raeford hopes to start anew with a new police chief. Michael Dummett was sworn in at City Hall on Monday morning, replacing Kevin Locklear who was dismissed.

"I think it's a great town,” Dummett said. “I think it's a town that has a lot of potential to do a lot of great things and they want that from their police department, and they've hired me to make sure we get there."

Dummett was sworn in as the new chief of police on Monday. He replaced Kevin Locklear, who was fired after being charged with assaulting his wife. Charges against Locklear were dismissed, providing he completes a counseling program.

"We're very excited to have a new police chief,” said Mayor John McNeill. “We've had some problems and issues over the past couple of years and it's really good to have a new person coming in to help us iron out some issues that we have."

Chief Michael Dummett

Dummett was a 16-year veteran with the Salisbury Police Department. City Manager Richard Douglas said he went through a comprehensive application process that included a written exam and interviews with a community panel.

"He reminded me a lot of me, in terms of being a humble, outgoing, caring, compassionate person,” said Martha Beatty, a community advocate who was on the panel. “He talked about community policing, which is what the heart of policing should be, which is the community."

Dummett has some short-term goals for the 14 other sworn officers in his department, one of which includes getting nationally accredited.

“I'm going to have to first sell it to the officers and the department that accreditation is a positive thing,” Dummett added. “It's going to make our department better because it's a lot of work."

In the long run, he hopes to expand the department and possibly increase pay.