SILVERHILL, Alabama — Silverhill Mayor Tim Wilson and town council members conducted the first of three interviews in hiring a new police chief at a special work session May 17 at town hall.

Kevin Neal Brock met with Wilson and council members Wayne Gruenloh and Shirley Stephens for about 45 minutes on Monday. Council members Jared Lyles, Mike Allegri and Bert Jones were not present for the meeting.

Brock, a resident of Silverhill and a 1984 graduate of Robertsdale High School, fielded more than a dozen questions from Wilson, along with a few more from Gruenloh, ranging from his background and law enforcement experience, to how he would deal with difficult situations and difficult co-workers.

“I think the first priority of this department will be to begin the healing process,” Brock said. “What happened (with the firing of Chief Kim Wasdin) caused a lot of division and whomever takes on that position is going to have to rebuild trust between the town and within the department.”

A 1990 graduate of the Southwest Alabama Police Academy, Brock served with the Foley Police Department from 1990 to 1997 before beginning his own business as a private investigator in 1997.

Brock said while working on a case, he was persuaded to rejoin the police force, joining the Loxley Police Department as a criminal investigator in 2000. In the meantime, he earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Faulkner State Community College in 2001 and a bachelor’s degree from Troy in 2003.

He left that position to become a parole officer with the state in 2003, earning a master’s degree from Troy in 2005, teaching as an adjunct criminal justice instructor for Faulkner State and Judson College. He became an independent insurance agent with State Farm Insurance in 2006.

“I was actively recruited in Tennessee and ended up taking a position in Montgomery,” he said. He became owner/independent insurance agent for Paragon Group in 2012. “I am still licensed to sell insurance, but I don’t currently.”

Brock has taught parttime for FSCC and was recently offered a temporary full-time position.

“That is something that came up after I applied for this position,” he said. “If that is something that becomes more permanent, it is something I will have to consider.”

Brock said whether or not he received the job as police chief in Silverhill, teaching is something he would like to continue doing.

“The full-time classroom position is something I have only been doing for a short time,” he said. “A lot of my classes are done online and don’t take a lot of my time.”

Brock described himself and said others would describe him as self-motivated and a leader. When asked what his weaknesses were, he said,

“When I worked for State Farm, I was told I had a problem with delegating, but that is something that I have worked on and hopefully resolved.”

Brock said he considered being local one of his biggest assets.

“I don’t want to talk bad about anyone who was in this position before,” he said, “but I believe not having someone local in the position is something that has hurt the town in the past.

“Regardless of whether or not I am hired as chief, I see myself being right here in Silverhill. I want to do whatever I can to support the town, whether it be from within or serving as a citizen.”