HIGH POINT, N.C. — From vice narcotics to patrol supervisor, Kenneth Shultz has worn many hats in his 27 years with the High Point Police Department. Thursday he put on the hat of Chief of Police.

“I’ve inherited a department that is in excellent shape,” said Shultz, who believes the department is strong thanks to their police strategies and relationship with the community. “One thing that puts High Point apart from other agencies is the way we police,” he said. “We are not just reactive but we are very proactive; if we see a situation developing we can get out in front of it and address it to keep it from expanding.”

Shultz was born in High Point and grew up in Davidson County.

While crime in general is low in High Point, Shultz knows the city still has some issues to face including a large number of heroin overdoses.

“We’ve recently just got done deploying Narcan to all our officers,” said Shultz, referring to the drug that can reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. “If we get there before fire or EMS we can actually administer the reversal agent so we can help save lives as well.”

In addition to working to keep it off the streets, Shultz wants to connect more services for those addicted.

When it comes to body cameras, it’s something Shultz welcomes once lawmakers catch up with the technology on determining if video captured should be made public or not.

“I’d love to see them become more discrete, smaller so they can be deployed and not be so noticeable,” said Shultz. “Then we also got to work on the storage side of the video that is recorded and figure out how that is going to be stored — lot of expense in that.”

The chief also said he would like to see more of the community, including businesses, get involved with the High Point Community Against Violence group. The group works closely with the department and areas of the community that’s dealing with violent crime.