THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140212
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
On his first day as police chief, Jimmy L. Wilson offered a glimpse of the future: Training and cooperation.
Wilson, who has won national acclaim for his skill at assessing and providing training, will insist on ``training, re-training and more training'' to allow his 116 officers to fully develop their abilities.
He also promised to work with other city agencies to provide services to citizens.
``We, as a department, are only part of a well-oiled machinery called municipal government,'' Wilson, 51, said. ``We must concentrate on cooperation.''
Managing the police force is a tough job, Wilson acknowledged, but he sees his responsibility as a way to provide public service.
``There is no greater challenge in our society than to serve our fellow man,'' the 29-year police veteran continued.
Wilson said he is honored to ``lead Virginia's finest police department into the 21st century.''
Wilson, who will receive $67,500 a year in his new post, was sworn in Monday morning in a courtroom filled with police, city officials and community leaders.
City Manager Myles E. Standish compared the ceremony to Halley's comet, which appears only about every 76 years.
``We only swear in a police chief about every 20 years,'' he said.
Standish thanked Maj. William A. Freeman for an ``outstanding job'' as acting chief for the past six months after the retirement of former Chief G.F. Jackson, who had been in office two decades.
Freeman ``not only kept the machinery going, but he . . . initiated new programs in the department,'' Standish said.
Also attending the ceremony were members of Wilson's family - his parents and three brothers who live in Durham, N.C., where he was raised, and a friend who had worked with him in the internal affairs division at the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington. Wilson spent the last five years of his 24-year career with the D.C. police as deputy chief, heading the 6th Precinct.
Wilson came to Suffolk from Canton, Miss., where he headed the police department for the past two years. He had been chief in Jackson, Miss. for two years before that, but was abruptly fired days after asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate alleged corruption at the juvenile jail.
Wilson said with downsizing, dwindling resources and increasing demands on police, the officer's role has become more complex.
``It has caused us to become efficient in budget analysis and organizational planning,'' he said.
Wilson said his officers would ``maintain a safe community and help Suffolk not only be the largest city in Virginia, but the best city in Virginia.''
A strong advocate of community-oriented policing, Wilson believes that philosophy will ``create an everlasting bond with the community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MICHAEL KESTNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Police Chief Jimmy L. Wilson shakes hands with police Officer Dixie
Shipley while Officer Pamela King awaits her turn to greet the new
chief Monday in Suffolk.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK POLICE DEPARTMENT