It was a good time to be “blue” in Burlington this week as the city’s finest were hailed as the finest in North Carolina by one of the state’s leading law enforcement organizations.
The North Carolina Police Executives Association had originally singled out Burlington’s police department as its agency of the year during its annual conference just over a month ago. But this accolade was finally brought home to Burlington on Tuesday with a formal presentation before the members of its city council.
Tuesday’s ceremony ultimately brought a capacity crowd to the council’s meeting chambers as police administrators, volunteers, and civilian staff members jockeyed for seats while uniformed officers stood at attention in the room’s expansive aisle.
The privilege of presenting the award fell, rather fittingly, to Brian James, who just happened to be the association’s other big honoree from last month’s convention.
A retired chief of Greensboro’s municipal police department and the current head of UNC Chapel-Hill’s campus police, James was recognized as the state’s police executive of the year at the same time that Burlington nabbed the agency superlative. The celebrated chief was consequently able to speak with some authority when he described the implications of the association’s signal honor.
“We get a number of nominations from departments across the state for agency of the year,” James explained at the start of a regularly-scheduled council meeting on Tuesday. “This year, we selected the Burlington police department, which not only signifies that they’re doing a lot of things to make sure that Burlington is a safe community. It also looks at technology innovations, it looks at leadership, and it looks at the connection with the community.”
James added that this community connection has a special significance to him as a newly-minted resident of both Burlington and Alamance County.
Meanwhile, it was the members of the police force who took center stage when Burlington’s police chief Alan Balog accepted the association’s award.
“It is really humbling to receive this award on behalf of the great team that we’ve built at BPD,” Balog declared as he joined James at the podium, “and some of these heroes are with us tonight.”
Balog went on to recall just how far the city’s police force has come since a staffing crisis in 2022 hobbled its operations. The police chief also commended the council for its role in overcoming this crisis through the passage of an unprecedented package of pay raises for the city’s police officers.
“This award is your award because without each one of you it would not be possible,” he added. “This award is also not the end of our success…and there are many great things to come for the Burlington police department.
