Tony Taylor, 49, has been named the new Chief of Police in Williamston.
Taylor officially began his duties as the town’s new police chief today, January 2 after being named to the position by newly installed mayor Mack Durham. Durham and council members David Harvell and Otis Scott were sworn into their respective positions Wednesday morning in an unannounced private ceremony.
Taylor worked with the Criminal Justice Academy since 2007 and served as a dispatcher with the Williamston Police Department in the early 1980s.
He fills the postion which has remained open since the resignation of former Chief Jay Grubbs in August of 2012.
Taylor said he plans to move the department in the direction of community policing and to make the department more professional.
He said he wants the department to be “visible and open to the community” and to be positive.
One of the first community programs he will begin is a citizens police academy for the community to learn what law enforcement does and what their role is. The course will be offered one day each week over a six week period, he said and will offer insight into what law enforcement does, the new chief said.
He said he is “looking forward to serving the Williamston community.”
