Chief Donnie Greene

Farmville’s police chief will retire in December after nearly 30 years of service

16 POLICING ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY FOR DONNIE GREENE

By Melissa Glen

For the past 13 years, Farmville Police Chief Donnie Greene has started off his mornings the same way. He wakes up, grabs what he needs for the day, then heads to the police department by 8:30 a.m. Most days, he gets to leave at 6:30 p.m., but duty frequently calls him back.

Come December, mornings will look a little different for Greene, who is set to retire after 28 years in law enforcement.

“I have a 12-year-old granddaughter and a 3-year-old grandson, so for a month or so, honestly, I don’t plan on doing a thing,” he said. “I have a honey-do list that’s a mile and a half long, so I’m sure I will be doing that at some point.”

Greene, who has become a staple in the Farmville community, started his career in 1992 in Winterville. He moved to Farmville’s department in 1993 and has been there ever since. He started on bike patrol for a year and a half, then moved to shift sergeant and lieutenant after that. In 2007, Greene was named chief of police.

“I knew when I was 9 years old I wanted to be a police officer,” Greene said. “That’s what I always wanted to do, and so that’s what I did.”

Greene said his favorite thing about his job is the connections he makes with citizens and the day-to-day tasks that have an impact on someone’s life.

“I’m not talking about arresting bad guys or that kind of thing,” Greene said.

“I’m talking about showing a kid that police are here to be your friend, being involved in the community, helping people find a job or even helping people get a driver’s license.”

He recalled one moment he saw these connections come full circle in his work, noting that community relationships will be what he misses the most after retiring.

“I coached rec sports in

Farmville is “ important to Donnie. He wants to see us grow and prosper and wants to be a part of that growth.

Farmville for more than 20 years. I always tell this story where I coached a kid in football, and for his 16th birthday he wanted to have his birthday at the community center in Farmville and didn’t know how to reach out to anybody — it’s up to me,” he said.

According to Greene, his success wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for his predecessor, Chief Robert Smith. “He was a huge mentor for me from day one when I started and even when I became the chief I reached out to him if I had questions,” he said.

Greene said he is not sure who will be moving into his position when he leaves, but he hopes whoever gets the job will reach out to him just as he did with Smith. He also encouraged his successor to continue to focus on involvement and transparency.

“I know there are some folks internally who want it, and obviously I would push to hire within if the town manager sees they are qualified to do

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it,” Green said. “The biggest thing I would say is you have to have the support of the community and you don’t get the support of the community if you aren’t involved in it."

He said it is important to break down stereotypes as the chief of police and to go into all situations with an open mind.

“Just because you arrest someone doesn’t mean they are a bad person,” Greene said. “Just because someone lives in the housing authority doesn’t mean they are a drug dealer or a bad person.”

As far as accomplishments during his time as chief, Greene said the department has seen significant growth in its employee base. He said some of the efforts included placing Farmville personnel as resource officers in the local schools, creating a substation that was more accessible to residents and building a pistol range. Greene said he wished he was able to finish the range before he left, but the process was delayed due to weather.

Greene said his biggest accomplishment was all the work he did at the individual level helping ease police-citizen relations.

“There are things going on in the world right now where there is so much turmoil and controversy and everything else that we still have, I am thankful to have a good relationship with the community,” he said. “It is the greatest show on earth. You see so much and do so much, and you immediately get to see that you have helped people.”

Brenda Elks, a Farmville town commissioner for the past four years, said she has known Greene for more than 26 years and has been able to see his strengths as both a friend and a colleague.

“Serving in this role has given me the opportunity to see all sides of our chief,” Elks said “Farmville is important to Donnie. He wants to see us grow and prosper and wants to be a part of that growth. I love to sit down with him and we throw out ideas of things we want to do and see done and you can see his mind churning.”

Elks said Greene has been helpful in dealing with many crises in Farmville, specifically

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“He and many others helped rescue residents that had to be put on boats to be brought out,” Elks said. “Tornadoes, snow storms, hurricanes ... you name it and he has been there. He is deeply respected by his staff, town employees, citizens, his family and his friends.”

As far as what life will be like after retirement, Greene said he is expecting the change to be hard.

“Not getting up to come to work will be weird, realizing that I’m no longer the chief and that I’m no longer a police officer will be really weird,” Greene said. “People ask ‘are you nervous, are you scared?’ And I say a little bit of both.”

However, Greene does plan to still be as active in the community as he can.

“I would love to stay involved in Farmville in whatever capacity. My heart is in recreation, and I would love to stay involved in recreation.”

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