Morning sun streamed through windows onto piles of boxes in Â鶹´«Ã½ Public Safety Chief Jason Whisnant’s office.
Whisnant, who has been chief since 2022, will put away his badge at the end of this month, retiring from the department he has worked at for nearly 30 years.
Â鶹´«Ã½ Public Safety Chief Jason Whisnant stands beside a patrol car outside the department’s headquarters on College Street on March 17.
Whisnant said other retirees always told him he would know when it was the right time to retire.
“I’ve had a year to think about it (since becoming eligible for retirement),†Whisnant said. “It felt like the right time to go. We’re at a point where I feel like the agency is stable. We’ve had quite a long run of being fully staffed, collectively. There are other personnel that have put themselves in a position to efficiently manage their divisions. It’s the right time.â€
Whisnant is taking another job with the state after he leaves the department. But this may not be the last Burke County will see of Whisnant, a Valdese resident.
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“I can’t rule out running for political office at some point in the future,†Whisnant said.
Accomplishments as chief
Even before Whisnant became chief, he was passionate about mental health awareness for emergency workers like police and firefighters. He worked with previous chiefs Ronnie Rector and Tony Lowdermilk to better incorporate ways to help people in crisis and respond appropriately.
“I believe even after I’m gone, that emphasis is there. It’s embedded in the agency that we continue to make that a priority in regular training,†Whisnant said.
As chief, Whisnant led the department to join a critical incident stress management team with Lenoir and Hickory police departments, which helps officers after difficult incidents. He also helped create the Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation, which provides help to officers and their families who are experiencing hardships.
Beyond that, Whisnant said he’s proud of the work he did throughout his career — from patrolling with his platoon to working as a DARE officer and a community officer.
“Really fantastic opportunity here to be around the public, to be around the community,†Whisnant said. “I made a lot of friends. … That’s probably the highlight of my career, is being able to engage the public on a personal level, make people feel like they can reach out to me regardless of my rank or role, even as a friend, to call me.â€
Whisnant said it has been harder to retire than he expected, saying goodbye to people he has strong bonds with that were forged by fire of shared trauma, change and growth at the department.
“I will never regret choosing a life of public service to the community that has given me and my family so much,†Whisnant said.
Â鶹´«Ã½ City Manager Sally Sandy said Whisnant has always been a people person. That’s something he kept when he took the helm at the department.
Then Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Public Safety Capt. Jason Whisnant, right, helps a girl with her helmet at a May 2022 event.
“Sometimes, when you move up into a different chair, who you are kind of changes,†Sandy said. “I would say that in three years (as chief), Jason remained a people person, and I think that is truly one of his strengths.â€
Future for department
Whisnant said the department has had plenty of support from the city and city council.
“I think our service delivery is excellent, and even after I’m gone, it’s going to continue to be excellent,†he said.
The next five years may see a wave of people retiring from the department, including all the command staff, Whisnant said.
“We have already started preparation beyond those retirements to put people in a position to be successful, to put people in a position to get them ready,†Whisnant said.
Amy Swanson, administrative specialist at the department, said the department has always focused on preparing officers for the futures as they advance through the ranks.
“He has set the department up for success after he’s gone,†Swanson said. “He’s taken care of us, and we’ll feel the effects of that for years to come.â€
Whisnant said success is all about the people.
“Internally, if you don’t put your people in a position to be successful, they won’t be,†Whisnant said. “That includes supporting their physical and mental health, providing leadership opportunities across the entire spectrum of the agency. (The next chief) has to start planning for tomorrow today.â€
Transitioning to a new career
Whisnant’s family has a history of working as first responders for the city of Â鶹´«Ã½.
Jason Whisnant, right, is sworn in as chief of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Public Safety while his family holds the Bible for him in 2022.
His grandfather’s cousin, Edward “Red†Phifer Whisnant, was the first of the Whisnants to join Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s police and fire ranks in 1940, becoming chief in 1956. His uncle, Larry Whisnant Jr., joined the department in 1965. His father, Randy, started working on the fire side in 1970.
Whisnant started his career at the Â鶹´«Ã½ department in 1998.
At one point, a knee injury could have ended his law enforcement career, he said. He realized law enforcement was all he knew.
“I had no education, no other training in anything else, and so going back to school for mental health was another career choice,†he said.
That background is what he’ll use next, working with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction as a human services program manager for the department’s Support, Hope, Inclusion, Empowerment, Loyalty and Dedication Program.
SHIELD provides peer support and behavioral and mental health services for the department’s staff, according to the department’s website.
“I want to keep serving those that serve us,†Whisnant said.
