May 13, 2014. Tony Jones, 46, has been selected from a pool of 24 applicants to serve as the Town of Blowing Rock’s next Police Chief. Jones will be relocating from Taylorsville, NC where he has served as the Chief of Police for the past 17 years. He fills the role previously held by Eric Brown who resigned in January. Tony’s first day with the Town of Blowing Rock will be Tuesday May 27.
“Tony Jones’ 17 years of proven experience as a Police Chief in a small community along with his 20 years of teaching law enforcement classes immediately set him apart from the candidate pool. His performance during the interview process and his approaches to problem solving and customer service leadership further distinguished him as the right person to join our team here in Blowing Rock”, said Town Manager Scott Fogleman.
Born in Seaford, Delaware and raised in Taylorsville, Tony became a sworn law enforcement officer in North Carolina in 1988 and began his law enforcement career in Taylorsville in 1989 as a patrol officer. He was promoted to the Police Chief position in 1997. Some of the programs he has initiated in Taylorsville include a neighborhood traffic safety program, a physical assessment for officers, bicycle patrol, a neighborhood and downtown foot patrol, and a holiday outreach program to coordinate charitable donations of food, toys, and household items to those in need.
As Blowing Rock’s Police Chief, Jones will be a key member of the Management Team that is charged with helping the organization continue to build every day on its past successes in high quality customer service delivery. He will be tasked with leading the Police Department comprised of 12 staff members, including 11 sworn law enforcement officers. He will work in partnership with Captain Aaron Miller who has been responsible for managing the day to day operations of the department since January.
Town Manager Fogleman commented about Miller, saying “I would like to express my appreciation for the fine job that Captain Miller has performed over the past few months running our Police operations. He has balanced very well the resources available to meet our customer’s needs, especially given that we have not had our full complement of officers for several months.”
Tony graduated from Gardner-Webb University in 1996 with a Human Services degree prior to his earning a Masters Degree in Management from Pfeiffer University in 1999. During his 24 years with the Taylorsville Police Department, Jones was extremely involved in the community having served as Vice-President, President Elect and President of the Rotary Club.
He also served as the West Alexander Middle School PTO President and as a Chamber of Commerce Board of Director and later as its President. He served on the Domestic Violence Resource Center Board and was President for two terms in addition to serving the YMCA of Alexander County as President for two terms. He is a member of the NC Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Association of Chiefs of Police, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Tony is the proud father of four including two sons (ages 17 and 19) and a daughter (22) from a previous marriage and a three year old daughter with his wife Erin. He enjoys spending time with his family and visiting area attractions, especially Price Lake.
“I have always loved visiting Blowing Rock. I am humbled and honored to be selected for this position and am very excited to join the Blowing Rock community and customer service focused organization”, Jones said.
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