New police chief in Belmont can't arrest anyone

BELMONT, N.C. — The new chief in Belmont can't make arrests or carry a police weapon.

Channel 9's partners at The Gaston Gazette reported Chief H.C. "Skip" Clark isn't certified to be a law enforcement officer in North Carolina.

Belmont leaders say they knew that when they hired Clark in February. Clark worked as a police officer for 36 years in Georgia and Florida before retiring as chief of the Peachtree City, Georgia, force in 2014.

Since Clark waited for more than a year between jobs, North Carolina requires him to take 600 hours of basic law enforcement training before he can wear a badge.

The state Department of Justice says about five to 10 of the 400 police departments in North Carolina have chiefs who are not sworn officers.

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