Reflections of a year in Boiling Springs: Building trust, one interaction at a time
By Chuck Thompson | The Shelby Independent
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – On Oct 1, 2026, Brian DiYorio, 39, celebrated his first anniversary as Chief of the Boiling Springs, N.C., Police Department.
The Shelby Independent sat down with Chief DiYorio for a one-on-one interview, looking back at the past year, some of the highlights and changes, and also toward the future, as he continues to build an efficient police department to meet the ever-growing, and changing, needs of the residents of Boiling Springs.
Walking through the doors of Boiling Springs Town Hall on Oct. 1, 2025, the fifteen year veteran was a little nervous, as we all would be. He had no idea what to expect. Would this be a smooth transition or friction? Would things go smoothly or would it be a rough first day? But in a moment, he already felt comfortable because he had interviewed with Town Manager Zachary Parker, had met some of the other town and police employees and then immediately felt comfortable.
He felt like he belonged; like he was in the right place.
“It was a bit of the fear of walking into the unknown,” DiYorio said. “It was about getting an idea of normalcy here, but it was absolutely great.”
Those are the things that come with walking into a new job, particularly when that job is leading a police department.
But DiYorio wasn’t walking into the job completely alone.
A network of friends he had developed throughout his law-enforcement career, people who had gone on to become police chiefs and assistant chiefs themselves who provided advice and perspective. There were people inside the Boiling Springs department who quickly became important parts of that transition.
Lt. Jonathan Gantt, DiYorio said, has been a tremendous help. More than that, the two have developed a friendship that extends beyond the walls of the police department.
“I’m thankful for our friendship beyond these four walls, helping me meet everyone and we have the same mission for what we want and building trust with the community,” DiYorio said.
From the beginning, he said, it just worked.
“Everyone, from day one, was on the path for this new challenge and responsibility.”
A year later, DiYorio can look back and see just how much has happened, and perhaps one of the most visible changes has little to do with arrests, calls or statistics. It is simply seeing police officers out in the community, residents he has gotten to know and building community trust.
Residents have told DiYorio they are seeing the Boiling Springs officers more often, which is something he notices, too. The moral seems better for both the officers and the residents.
Several community events have happened, thanks to DiYorio and the officers of the Boiling Springs police Department.
There was movie night in the park, Shop with a Cop, Ice Cream with a Cop, and there was even a fundraiser to help a Crest High School graduate who was deployed overseas.
On the surface, those might seem like small things, however, to DiYorio and the community members who notice, they are anything but.
He remembers some of the uncertainty surrounding the first community events. His officers had never experienced some of these things before. There was a natural concern about the unknown—how would people respond, and would there be any backlash? No, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
"The officers became excited about it, not because they were putting on a show, but because they were building relationships,” DiYorio said.
That’s particularly important in a town like Boiling Springs.
“In this day and age, as the world changes, so does policing,” DiYorio said. “People need to know who we are and not just our names and badge number.”
When someone calls 911, there is a good chance the person answering the call already knows the community—and there is a good chance the person arriving at the door isn’t a complete stranger.
DiYorio experienced the contrast while working in Gastonia.
(DiYorio continued below...)
“There are good people everywhere,” he said, “but in a larger city you simply cannot know everyone.”
In Boiling Springs, you can; and that familiarity can help build trust.
“Policing is like a bank account and trust is the money,” DiYorio explained. “We’re making small deposits of trust into that account with every interaction. We have to be mindful of all of our interactions and deposit trust into the ‘community bank’ with every interaction, hopefully.”
It is a simple analogy, but it may explain much of what DiYorio has tried to accomplish during his first year.
DiYorio and the officers under his command have been building from within, and while the changes haven’t all been visible to the public, some of the most important work has happened quietly inside the department.
DiYorio said there was not an established awards procedure when he arrived, so one was put into place.
That may sound like a small administrative change, but to him, it isn’t, as he noted, “Officers need to be recognized for the work that they do. Police officers don’t generally enter the profession because they expect awards, they do it because they feel called to the work.”
But that doesn’t mean their work shouldn’t be recognized.
“Even recognizing our veteran officers to give them some thanks and they’re doing the best that they can and someone sees what they’re doing. That’s really important to me because it’s important for morale.”
DiYorio has also worked on updating the department’s policies and procedures.
When laws change, standards change and best practices change. DiYorio knows this and tries to stay on top of the latest updates, because sometimes it doesn’t take long for a policy manual to become outdated.
“It’s important to stay on top of these policies and procedures because even a year can go by and laws can change,” he said. “This makes sure we are giving our citizens the best service that we can possibly provide.”
DiYorio continued, “Residents may never sit down and read the department’s policies, but they will see the result. They’ll see a more well-rounded police department and professionalism in action, and it’ll show through that.”
The department has also received grants to help with accreditation and best practices. DiYorio gave examples ranging from whistleblower protection to firearm care and usage and officer wellness.
“The goal,” he said, “is to make sure the department is doing things correctly and following recognized standards.”
One of the grants will allow the department to hire two part-time employees to assist with writing policies and ensuring those policies are followed.
The combined value of the two grants is approximately $175,000, DiYorio said, with no local taxpayer money required.
Another grant will help with new police radios. The radios cost roughly $7,000 each, meaning the department won’t replace every radio at once.
“But it’s a start,” DiYorio added.
For a small town like Boiling Springs, stretching a dollar matters.
Some changes inside the department are even more basic, like uniforms.
The department recently moved away from the traditional, stiff uniforms to more comfortable uniforms that also allow officers to carry and use other equipment more effectively. DiYorio said the change also makes financial sense. He can outfit an officer with three of the newer uniforms for approximately the cost of one of the old uniforms.
“Budgets are so important, especially in small towns, because this is the taxpayers’ money,” he said. “We want to stretch that dollar as far as possible.”
For DiYorio, however, it isn’t simply about saving money.
Preparing for What Nobody Wants to Happen
“Something as simple as a more comfortable uniform can improve morale… And morale matters,” he said. “So does making sure officers have the equipment necessary to do the job safely. The department has updated firearms and added red-dot optics to increase accuracy.”
Police training is another area where DiYorio believes preparation matters.
DiYorio noted that better qualification scores and improved accuracy can ultimately improve the quality of a department and reduce risk.
“Knock on wood, we don’t have to,” he said of using the equipment in a dangerous situation, “because we live in a great community, but we always have to be prepared, and safety is of the utmost importance.”
Sometimes that means training for crimes that might seem far removed from everyday life in Boiling Springs.
Cybercrime is one example.
“Why is Boiling Springs going to cybercrime training classes?” he stated. “Because tons of crimes are happening online through mobile phones and we need to know how to better serve the community through such crimes.”
The department may have outside agencies and people it can call for specialized assistance, but knowing what to do, and understanding what is happening, is important.
The department has also utilized the FBI-LEEDA leadership training program, which provides law-enforcement leadership training.
DiYorio has completed certifications through the program and said the training has helped him think about leadership, morale, high-stress incidents and maintaining community trust.
Officers are exposed to scenarios and asked how they would respond.
Some of these scenarios may seem unlikely but that’s the point, as he explained, “Nobody wants to talk about these things,” DiYorio said, “but what about the university across the street?”
Boiling Springs police need to know how to coordinate with Gardner-Webb and other agencies before something happens.
“Gardner-Webb University is only a short distance from the police department. What happens if something unexpected occurs there? The answer can’t simply be figuring everything out after the crisis begins.”
DiYorio has also drawn upon experiences from his time in Gastonia, including incidents in which officers were shot.
“They become part of what an officer carries forward,” DiYorio explained, “not because anyone wants to see those situations repeated, but because preparation comes from understanding what has happened before.”
The department also works with neighboring agencies and law-enforcement leaders. DiYorio specifically praised the relationships he has developed with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and other local police chiefs.
“Sheriff Norman and Chief Fraser, and all the guys in Rutherford County, too, have always lent a helping hand more than I could ever ask for,” he said.
He believes that cooperation benefits the entire region.
“I just think it is best for Cleveland County when we all work together and hold ourselves to a standard,” he stated enthusiastically.
At only 39 years old, the Boiling Springs Police Chief knows he has many years ahead of him, but he is already thinking about what happens when he’s not there. Whether it’s a vacation, sickness or just a day off, his goal is for the department to continue functioning without him.
“Watching other people grow is the most rewarding thing in law enforcement, in my opinion,” he said. “That means giving officers opportunities to learn, make decisions and take ownership. There’s a lot of responsibility in watching these great officers get involved and learn and grow as police officers.”
“There is an old idea in leadership,” DiYorio said, “about surrounding yourself with good people who can do the job - and then getting out of their way.”
That’s easier said than done, but it is the direction he wants to take.
“It’s not about me,” he said as he paused to emphasize the point. “It’s about everyone within these walls, in this town and all those that visit Boiling Springs. That means allowing officers to have a voice in decisions. It means allowing them to help shape the department’s future. It means letting them choose uniforms and become involved in the changes happening around them.
“Being a leader means, yes, I could do everything,” he said. “But letting them make decisions and allowing them to decide uniforms and letting them get into that vision of us moving forward.”
He smiled.
“It’s about service. It’s not about me.”
Community
Ask DiYorio what has surprised him most about his first year, and eventually the conversation comes back to the people.
The residents, officers, town employees, people who own and work in local businesses, those who now recognize him when he walks through the door.
“The community has been great,” he said.
He remembers being nervous during his interview because everyone seemed to know everyone.
Now, he understands it and he’s grateful to be part of it.
“Everybody is helpful and the encouragement is amazing. There are great people in big cities, but there is something different about a tight-knit community. There are people here that you can’t find anywhere else,” he said. “And that is what makes Boiling Springs really wonderful.”
He also understands something else.
Without the community, there is no police department.
“Without the community, we don’t have a job,” he said.
Something Bigger
Today, the Boiling Springs Police Department has 11 full-time officers and seven part-time officers. DiYorio looks at those numbers, but he sees people rather than a roster. People with families, goals; people who want to learn and to do a good job. He sees people who have chosen to serve the town.
He is proud of them and humbled by them.
“I am very humbled that the officers under my command are excited about what they’re getting to learn, do and be recognized for,” he said.
He also knows he didn’t get here by himself.
“I couldn’t be where I am today without my parents, and all the people that I can’t possibly begin to name,” he said.
He mentioned Town Manager Zachary Parker, Mayor Tommy Greene, and Town Council as well. He said he appreciates their support and the work they are doing for the town. Then he returned to the theme that has run through nearly the entire conversation: Service.
“It’s all about being part of something bigger and doing something helpful.”
For DiYorio, that seems to be what the first year has really been about. Not simply building a police department but building a department that belongs to the community it serves by building the trust that comes with it—one interaction, one conversation and one small deposit at a time.
Looking Ahead
The second year is already underway and Boiling Springs isn’t standing still. The town continues to grow, and with growth come new challenges, new residents and new expectations.
DiYorio said the department will continue training, updating policies, improving equipment and looking for ways to better serve the community. However, there will also be opportunities to simply have fun with the people they protect.
One of those is coming up Oct. 17, with Spooky in the Springs at the park. The Halloween event begins at 5:30 p.m. with trick-or-treating, activities, candy and photos. It concludes at 7:30 p.m. with a Halloween-themed movie.
Yet another small deposit into that community bank filled with trust.
Perhaps that’s the best way to understand Brian DiYorio’s first year as police chief. It hasn’t simply been about policing. It has been about people, about learning a new community and becoming part of it; giving officers the tools, training and confidence to grow. About preparing for the things nobody wants to happen while still making time for the things that make a town feel like home.
And, above all, about remembering why the police department exists in the first place.
The people of Boiling Springs.
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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent.
The Shelby Independent.
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