Graham city manager Megan Garner has announced the city’s new police chief will be a career, now retired, SBI agent who currently works with campus police at Elon University.
Brian Neil assumed command on Monday, and was introduced to the city council at Tuesday night’s monthly meeting.
Neil has 30 years of law enforcement experience, having served in numerous leadership roles with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, including as a Special Agent in Charge and as Director of the Information Sharing and Analysis Center; Neil retired in March 2024 after a 24-year career with the bureau.
At the start of his law enforcement career, before his SBI tenure, he worked in Greensboro and Burlington police departments.
Neil holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Elon College and is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School/Center for Homeland Defense Executive Leadership Program.
Neil won’t have to commute far; he already lives in Burlington. His wife, Krystal, also works in law enforcement, with the Alamance County sheriff’s department.
The newly-designated chief shared his enthusiasm for the appointment in a news release from the city: “I am honored to join the Graham Police Department and look forward to working alongside its dedicated officers and the community to continue fostering trust, transparency, and public safety.”
Garner, who had been under pressure from some city council members to name an internal candidate, had narrowed the search, which began with “nearly 40 applicants,” Garner previously told the newspaper.
“We were looking for someone who has integrity and can lead the department,” Garner said in the city’s news release. “A leader who is willing to listen to everyone, including those with different opinions, and bring the department together. His combination of state, municipal, and campus-policing experience makes him uniquely qualified to guide the department’s next chapter.”
Neil replaces interim chief Chris Smith, who had retired as an assistant chief from the Burlington Police Department in the spring of 2024; Garner had drafted him to step in after the accelerated retirement of Graham’s former chief, Kristy Cole Baker. Baker, who has led Graham’s police force since 2020, had originally anticipated a departure date of September 1 when she announced her retirement from the police department in March of this year.
Baker later decided to advance this date by a month, to August 1. She has since begun working with campus police at High Point University.
See earlier coverage:
Graham police chief announces retirement: https://alamancenews.com/chief-kristi-bakers-sept-1-retirement-sets-off-jockeying-to-lead-grahams-police-force/
City council members lobby for internal candidate to be new chief:
(May): https://alamancenews.com/three-graham-city-council-members-lobby-for-inside-choice-for-police-chief/
Chief moves up retirement; mgr. announces interim: https://alamancenews.com/graham-chief-moves-up-retirement-former-burlington-asst-chief-named-interim/
As she nears decision, city manager writes to police not to speculate on new chief: https://alamancenews.com/graham-city-manager-nears-decision-on-new-police-chief/
