In Sanford, the face of authority is increasingly black

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Smith defends the no-nonsense approach his department takes with local businesses in Goldsboro. He said his conversations with business owners on the strip have focused on “how do we change the economic status on the street.”

“If you’ll notice there aren’t that many stores,” he said. “But there are a lot of little bars. And the bars don’t open until 8:00 at night. And then at 2:00 in the morning they have to close. But the idea is that when you close, your patrons have to leave. They can’t hang out with the doors open and the music blaring, and if that happens, you’re gonna get a police response.”

Smith said his goal is to build trust in the force by showing homeowners in both black and white areas of the city that police can deliver results.

Some residents see him as making a difference. As he picked up his breakfast on Monday, just down the road from the Food Mart at the Pook Bear Restaurant, J.R. said he felt that things were getting better.

“I see the new police chief engaging with the community,” J.R. said. “I’ve seen him a couple of times walking through the neighborhoods, you know, speaking with families, and there’s definitely a presence in the community since the new chief.”

That recognition of the increased police visibility is what Smith says his goal is.

“You know, when some of the bars close, people want to go have some place to hang out,” he said. “And I’m not against people hanging out. But I am against when people are hanging out and I get citizens who are calling and saying the music is loud, people are out swearing, it’s 2:30, 3:00 in the morning. I can’t sleep. what are you doing? So I have to look at the perspective that here are taxpaying citizens who are constantly being disturbed.”

“So I have given my officers instructions that if you see something that’s illegal, you make an arrest. Because that’s what the citizens are asking us to do,” he said.

Hartsfield, Sims and other business owners on 13th Street, and some of their customers, disagree.

“The chief stood right here,” said one resident, as a small group debated whether the new chief — or any chief — could ever really change Sanford’s police culture. “And as soon as he left, who showed up? The task force. And what did they say? The chief has sent them up here. So he just bamboozled the community, as far as I’m concerned.”

Hartsfield disagrees, but she says the problem is not Smith, it’s his officers. “They’re not friendly to me and they know me. Imagine how they treat other people around here,” she said.

Recriminations on Zimmerman case, ‘Stand Your Ground,’ will have to wait

As for the case that reignited tensions in Sanford, Smith said he is reserving judgment, and has not ordered a review of how Sanford police handled the Zimmerman investigation. That will have to wait, he said, until the case is fully adjudicated.

He said he is still learning about the “Stand Your Ground” law, which he called so complicated, even a sitting judge who spent two hours briefing him on it found it confusing to explain.

But he said a basic tenet of police procedure is not going to change in Sanford:

“If an arrest is going to be made, we will always consult with the state’s attorneys office, because we can make the arrest, [but] they have to prosecute,” he said. “They’re the ones who are going to say yes, you have enough to sustain that arrest, or that charges are to be filed. And if they give us the direction that there’s not enough to sustain the arrest or to prosecute then we have to release the person.”

Smith said the city is ready for all contingencies, before, during and after the case, though he doesn’t expect any unrest, no matter how it turns out.

Before heading into the promotion ceremony, the chief, a slight man with wire rimmed glasses, who looks more college professor than cop, noted that he began his job on April Fool’s Day, with some friends wondering if perhaps it would turn out to be a prank — that he wasn’t really moving to Sanford to take the helm of one of the country’s most vilified police departments.

“But here it is, June 10th,” he said, noting the start of the event all those protests last year were demanding. “Significant days set the tone for who you’re gonna be and where you’re gonna land.”

Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidrport