Antoine Ensley

According to the letter, the Fletcher Police Department has hired only three black employees since it was formed in 1996, one of whom was former Chief of Police Antoine Ensley.
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"We are also waiting to hear from the former Police Chief Antoine Ensley, who we have contacted about the allegations," Hayes said.
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Ensley was a sergeant and shift commander with the Charlotte Police Department before taking the Fletcher post in February 2004.

He served as chief for 15 months until taking an administrative job in Norfolk, Va., in May 2005.

Fletcher police chief Antoine Ensley talks about settling into his new job and becoming familiar with the town.

Former Fletcher chief Antoine Ensley hired him in 2004.But Ensley said that based on Raymond's experience, he would not have recommended him as his successor.

He said the department where he spent a year trying to improve professionalism has moved in the opposite direction since he left over disagreements with officers and Town Council members.

Still, Ensley said Raymond had top-notch investigative skills.And "In my time there he never showed any air of irresponsibility," he said.

Fletcher's newest police chief, Antoine Ensley, joined the department Feb. 2.He will be sworn in as head of the department at 7 p.m. Monday in a ceremony at Fletcher Town Hall. (PATRICK SULLIVAN/TIMES-NEWS)
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Antoine Ensley is a man who thrives on order.But after four days as chief of the Fletcher Police Department, his desk was littered with memos and scraps of paper with phone numbers scrawled on them.Business cards were stacked in the front of his Rolodex, unalphabetized.Bins for sorting documents already were filled with stacks of papers.
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But wading through paperwork and organizing his office is just part of getting acclimated to his new role as Fletcher Police Chief, which Ensley stepped into Feb. 2.
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But sitting behind his desk Thursday in a purple shirt and silver tie, 34-year-old Ensley was all business as he discussed his plans and priorities for the department.His first few days on the job were spent meeting town officials and community residents, evaluating the needs of his staff and beginning to read a three-inch thick Fletcher Police policy manual.

Ensley also is getting to know the officers he will be leading and said that he plans to hire at least two more within the coming months, but already he is impressed with the staff on hand.

"I like what I see so far," he said."They're willing to learn, willing to grow, and we need to capitalize on that to keep them the best."

Ensley said his initial plans for the department also include improving its technology, such as giving officers the equipment to file reports from their patrol cars, tracking crime trends via a specialized computer software and allowing residents to access crime records from the town's Web site.

"All this stuff is long-term, but it's certainly foreseeable," he said.

Prior to joining the Fletcher Police Department, Ensley was a sergeant and shift commander in the Charlotte Police Department's Hickory Grove precinct.As a shift commander, he oversaw 17 to 18 officers who patrol a 44-square-mile area.A crisis negotiator with advanced law enforcement training, he also was an adjunct professor of English composition at Shaw University.

At Fletcher, he supervises a 13-officer police force, becoming at once the town's first black officer and chief.Ensley said he applied for the position because "I need an opportunity to be challenged."

But he is quick to point out that the desire to work in Fletcher was not about climbing a ladder of success.In large part, Ensley said, it was a job change made for his family, who backs him wholeheartedly -- right down to their photo, framed and mounted behind his desk.

Moving to Fletcher was a decision his wife, Sharon, and two sons, 10-year-old A.J. and 7-year-old Darien, unanimously embraced, Ensley said.

"They want to be in a small community with some growth and some vision," he said."I grew up in the city and I'm used to city life, but it's not just about me. It's about the family."

Ensley's family will move to Fletcher in June, when the boys finish school, he said.Until then, he travels to Charlotte on weekends, this weekend bringing with him the Police Department's budget to study.

Ensley, whom Town Manager Craig Honeycutt and a search committee unanimously chose from among 96 applicants, has made a smooth transition into the lead role at the Police Department, Honeycutt said.
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Ensley's new role will be 100 percent official at 7 p.m. Monday, when he will be sworn in as police chief in a ceremony at Fletcher Town Hall.

To The Editor: I was disappointed to see the recent article (April 18) regarding Fletcher Police Chief Antoine Ensley's resignation.The Times-News focused purely on a fabricated positive spin by town management.

The statement made by Town Manager Craig Honeycutt, "During his tenure, (Ensley) has diligently worked to continue the positive legacy left by our former chief," is completely laughable!
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Ensley cares absolutely nothing for the legacy that John Moss left behind for the Police Department.
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Ensley cares only for his legacy, no one else's.Ensley ran off several good police officers who genuinely loved the town in his own personal quest for glory.

I would have much rather seen the Times-News display it's journalistic integrity by presenting the truth of the matter.The truth is, Antoine Ensley is a failure as a police chief and has cost the Town of Fletcher far more than he has ever done for it.

Police obtained a search warrant for Byrd's home on March 17 after finding marijuana in a truck parked in his driveway, said Fletcher Police Chief Antoine Ensley.Police spotted the truck, which belonged to 18-year-old Tarence Christopher Henderson of Etowah, after responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle near Fanning Bridge Road, Ensley said.
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The presence of the drug in Henderson's vehicle in Byrd's driveway prompted officers to search the councilman's home the following day, Ensley said.

"It was enough to go to jail," he said of the seeds officers found inside the home."I've got a policy about search warrants: If we have probable cause to go in, we will proceed whether we get pounds or we get crumbs."

Ensley declined to name the item of drug paraphernalia found in Byrd's home.Byrd "was very cooperative," Ensley said.
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Moore met with Honeycutt and Ensley on Friday to discuss the case.
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"I told Antoine to handle this just like this was any other case, and he assured me he would," Moore said.

At the Fletcher Police Department, most of the agency's 11 officers know enough Spanish to get through a basic police encounter with a Hispanic, said Fletcher Police Chief Antoine Ensley.But the event is sometimes a struggle, he said.

"It's a challenge in this business," he said."You want to do the best job you can.It's frustrating sometimes when you can't quite connect."

Working in a diverse community requires agencies to find a way to overcome language barriers, Ensley said.Still, the answer might not be found in sending law enforcement officers back to school for Spanish class, he said.

Law enforcement officials should work to form partnerships with Spanish-speaking volunteers in the community and to recruit Spanish-speaking officers, Ensley said.Ongoing training to help officers work with minorities has to be "a part of your long-term mission," he said.

"It's a barrier," Ensley said, "but it's not a barrier that can't be overcome."

Erwin, Hendersonville Police Chief Donnie Parks, Laurel Park Police Chief Don Fisher, Fletcher Police Chief Antoine Ensley and Henderson County Board of Commission Chairman Bill Moyer are expected to speak.

Fletcher Town Council did the right thing last week when it expressed its support of the Police Department and the town's recently hired police chief, Antoine Ensley.

The decision came after council members gave fair hearing to complaints from three former officers who quit the department and rebuttals from Ensley.
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Ensley, who came from the Charlotte Police Department where he worked for 12 years, the last four a sergeant and shift commander, changed the schedule three times, no doubt an aggravation for officers on the job.But the changes were necessary to learn which one is best suited to the department.

The officers who quit accused Ensley of treating them unfairly and not listening to their concerns.But the head of a department can't be changing policy to suit one or two employees.

Ensley got it right when he said his "decisions have got to be within the best interest of the whole department."And we might add, the best interest of the town that the department is sworn to protect.

Other officers in the department expressed their support for Ensley and the changes he is making.
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It stopped all the rumors flying around about the Police Department and the status of the new chief and made public the council's support for Ensley and the prerogatives of his command.