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A good interim choice
Published Friday, December 26, 2008
With the imminent retirement of Suffolk Police Chief William Freeman on Wednesday, Suffolk was at risk of being in the unfortunate position of choosing between making a quick choice on his replacement or choosing someone who could not “hit the ground running.”
Tuesday’s announcement that Thomas H. Townsend would take over as the interim police chief gives Suffolk a little breathing room and a steady, experienced hand at the helm of its police department. That’s good news for residents of Hampton Roads’ fastest growing city.
Townsend brings more than 30 years worth of experience to the Suffolk force, having served in the Hampton Police Department from 1974 to 2004. He was the chief of that department during the four years prior to his retirement, and he received numerous departmental honors, including the Legion of Honor Award for being feloniously wounded in the line of duty.
With the retirement of the well-regarded Chief Freeman, Suffolk’s police officers and detectives deserve another leader who will inspire them and whom they can respect. Until the city can find a person fitting that description to serve the community permanently, it’s comforting to know that both the police department and city residents have an interim police chief who fits the bill.
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Posted by cedarboy1 (anonymous) on December 26, 2008 at 5:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I have two comments to make.No. 1The beginning of the Police chief story is worded in a very strange fashion,I could hardly understand it at it's beginning,as though it was written by a 4th grade student. No.2 I think Suffolk should pick a new chief from their own department and stop wasting time and money shopping outside the City of Suffolk.We have many very intelligent officers in our department to pick from and this way new officers coming in will be able to see that their hard work and loyalty in our police department will be recognized and rewarded. James W. Hall Jr. 318 Carolina Rd. Suffolk Va. . Life long Suffolk citizen.
Posted by Anony (anonymous) on December 31, 2008 at 2:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the selection of an "outsider" as interim chief is fantastic. I know many police officers in our city, and most of them have told me that their worst fear is that the new chief will be someone from inside the department. Suffolk is growing - we need a chief who is ready to run a CITY department, not someone who was last "on the street" 15-20 years ago, when Suffolk was considered a hick town.
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