From narcotics to special operations, when it comes to operations in the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office, Steve Maynor has done it all.
The veteran officer has been on the force for more than 20 years, and last month he received a new title: Chatham’s Chief Deputy.
Maynor faces a variety of challenges in his new role, including increased prevalence of guns in schools, a rising opioid epidemic and managing crime in a county with a growing population when recruitment for police has struggled.
This week, we speak with Maynor about his new role, the history it carries, and his goals for the position.
How did you get the appointment of Chief Deputy?
After the recent retirement of Chief Deputy Tracy Kelly, I was appointed by Sheriff Mike Roberson to serve as his Chief Deputy for the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve the Office and the citizens of Chatham in this capacity for Sheriff Roberson.
What are some of the responsibilities of your new role that differ from your previous work with the department?
The responsibilities of Chief Deputy are to support and assist Sheriff Roberson in managing the daily operations of the Sheriff’s Office; to make strategic decisions within the Sheriff’s vision and goals for serving the citizens of Chatham County; to act as a liaison for the office between the community and other agencies.
Previously, my role has been to manage personnel and resources within the Field Operations Team of the Sheriff’s Office. In my new role I will oversee the daily operations of the entire office, working closely with our leadership team. The Sheriff’s Office has a talented group of men and women who serve this community every day.
The team we have is dedicated to serve with a servants’ heart making decisions with compassion and what’s best for all involved. We have a great leadership team who cares and understands both the community and the team we have recruited to serve you. The team we have strives everyday to abide by our mission statement: “To provide exemplary law enforcement service achieving the Best Possible Result.”
Together, we will continue to build on the positive relationships that bridge the Sheriff’s Office with the citizens of Chatham. This allows us to serve you with a professional sheriff’s office that is the example for other law enforcement agencies to emulate. Together we will serve the citizens of Chatham County with professionalism while continuing our recruiting efforts to hire the best of the best. We will continue working to get our pay competitive for the market so we can recruit and retain the talented team we have working at the Sheriffs Office. We will maintain our path to accreditation, reviewing our policies and keeping them up to date with the constant changes in laws.
Why do you think you were selected for the position? What does this title mean to you?
Sheriff Roberson made the appointment and I am honored for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. As for what this title means to me, it’s responsibility and what’s best for the Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Chatham County. The title is also about listening, nurturing and enhancing both our team and citizens as I take this journey, making sure what we as an Office are doing is right even when no one is looking. It’s about growing the next leaders and helping our team reach personal and professional goals. It’s about representing Sheriff Roberson with professionalism and integrity holding myself and our team accountable to the policies, procedures and goals we are entrusted to with our oaths of office.
What’s sustained you in your career — what keeps you going, what do you love (and maybe don’t love) about the job?
What I believe has sustained me in my career begins with how we were raised growing up and having a mom and dad who believed in me and my brother. They challenged us to try new things, be committed to the things we did do and to not quit when we felt pressure.
As kids, our parents did not jump around with jobs. They were committed and gave their all each day even in tough times. As I began my career, I relied on what we observed in our family and instilled the same morals and ethics as what my parents taught us.
My wife and my kids keep me going, standing by my side and supporting me each day. This profession takes a supportive family and I have the best! They care and understand the demands that take me away at times so others can be helped. My strong faith drives me and I truly believe my purpose is to serve others in my work as a first responder. The team I work with each day are great people and they’re my family away from family. We laugh and sometimes cry, yet through it all we come together to support one another in service. There isn’t another job I’d ever want to do. I love interacting with people, helping solve problems, hearing others’ testimonies and supporting others while celebrating positive life-changing moments.
I don’t love the daily attacks on the profession as a whole. The quickness of society to offer their opinions without having the full story is frustrating — for every situation we have to remember, it’s not TV and this real life story has real life humans in it on all sides of an event. If it were an easy job more would be lining up to join. It’s far from easy but it’s very rewarding despite how it is portrayed.
How have previous Chief Deputies influenced you?
Each one has had a different influence on my growth in positive ways. I’ve worked with four: Gary Blankenship, Sheriff Roberson, Charles Gardner and Tracy Kelly. I also have close relationships with others in surrounding counties. I value what I have taken away from each one of these current and former Chief Deputies. I hope I can be an influence for others just as these men and women have influenced me in continuing to support growth while others seek their own professional and personal growth. Being a listener and someone who others can rely on to guide them through their career just as they have been to me.
There’s been increasing difficulty in recruiting for law enforcement positions. How should the department incentivize potential officers?
It is extremely difficult in today’s time to recruit. We have done well and will continue to seek new ideas for the changing climate surrounding the Law Enforcement profession or just the overall job market as other professions and industries are competing for the same people to come work for them. We have put into practice new ways to recruit by offering recruit positions, hiring and paying the recruits while they’re in school. When you look at the Basic Law Enforcement Training programs across the state, schools are struggling to meet the minimum to hold classes. The pay has become a competition with many municipalities paying higher starting salaries which pull from the pool of applicants that are attending school. To recruit and retain is a daily conversation for us, our surrounding agencies and across the state. Chatham is in a unique market, and we will have to begin comparing ourselves to the higher paying agencies next to us to get an increase in the applicants we are trying to attract. Our pay is low and our staff struggles to be able to afford rent or to buy a home in Chatham with the increasing cost of living. Our staff can’t afford to live where they work. Pay is going to have to get competitive to be competitive in recruiting.
What would surprise people about your work?
How rewarding of a career it actually is. It’s not TV or social media where it’s always action or bad things happening. Most days it’s about the conversations and the interactions that take place, listening to people who are doing great things. There is more good in the world than bad. We see good each day. We live in the best community and have the best citizens supporting the work being done by the team we have.
We’ve seen increased instances of guns in schools, including last month when a man brought a gun on the premises of Chatham Central High School. How much does that concern you as a law enforcement officer?
It is very alarming and creates worry for me surrounding what could happen if a student were to bring a gun to school. As a parent who received a call earlier this school year regarding a firearm being found on a student in my daughter’s school, I felt the same emotions as other parents who were also affected in this situation. It caused anxiety, questions about what could have happened and questions about why or how did this happen.
We are going to respond to every school or situation as if our own family were there. It is a complex and serious issue for our society that is going to take a strategic approach by all not just law enforcement or the school systems to eradicate this behavior in our society. We will have to begin with addressing the root causes of violence such as poverty, social isolation and trauma. Addressing the mental health situation facing our communities will have to be a priority for law makers.
You’ve said before there’s more good in the world than bad, do you still believe that to be true? What do you value about your journey?
I value each day that I get to see as we are not promised tomorrow. As I reflect back over work life I am thankful for the people who have guided and supported me along the way. I often put into practice things I learned from my many mentors and leaders I’ve been fortunate to work with, from my first job at Byrd’s Foods and the store managers who believed in me and have stayed in contact throughout the years, to the Chief of Police, Sheriffs and supervisors I have worked with in law enforcement. I have been blessed to have been able to have the right people placed in my life to help guide me along this journey.
Reporter Ben Rappaport can be reached at brappaport@chathamnr.com or on Twitter @b_rappaport