GASTONIA, N.C. -- Gastonia's newly-named Police Chief wants to see relations improved between the department and the local community.
Robert Helton, who is now an assistant chief in the department, will take over October 1 after the current chief, Stacy Conley, retires.
Helton said during an interview Tuesday that he would like to see if there are resources available to get his officers body cameras that would record anything going on.
He also said while he believes his officers have a good relationship with the community, he'd like to see some improvements made.
"We want our officers to be such that they are approachable, that people know them, that they trust, that when they tell them something, that resolutions are going to be found," Helton said.
Helton already knows how the Gastonia Police Department operates, since he has spent his entire career at the department.
He was born and raised in Gastonia.
Helton said he grew up on a street where there were three police officers living.
"I used to walk up there when I was young and hear their stories, look at their cars, and look at their equipment and thought that it would be kind of neat to be a police officer one day, he said."
Helton said crime has been dropping of late in the city and around the region, and he'd like to keep it that way on his watch as chief.
"I'm just very optimistic about where we can go," Helton said.
