By By CLAUD HODGES,Senior Reporter
June 4th was the first day of work for Washington Police Chief Mick Reed and he said he could not be happier than he has been since that day.
Reed wants to transform the Washington Police Department from reactive to proactive. And, as always, he said there will be work to be done to accomplish this.
The people in the Washington Police Department are so good and work so hard, Reed said, that it will be his job to decide where the Police Department is going.
On another law enforcement front, Reed said he is happy that he and Beaufort County Sheriff Alan Jordan know each other as professionals.
Jordan said he feels very comfortable around Reed and agreed that he and Reed will be professionals in the law enforcement arena in the city of Washington.
Of the press, Reed said he will always be open and upfront and will continue to build trust and do his best to get the word out through the press.
Reed began his career in law enforcement in his hometown, Salem Va., where he progressed to become a command lieutenant. Afterward, he served as chief of police in South Boston, Va., from 2004 to 2007.
Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts at Bluefield College and earned two executive law enforcement degrees, one from the Executive Leadership School at the University of Richmond and the other from the Administrative Officers’ Management Program at N.C. State University.
After five months at the helm in Washington as the city’s chief of police, Reed said he is very happy.
Reed’s wife, Peggy, fell in love with the city of Washington, he said, when they happened to be passing through town one day in the past year and she saw the waterfront. And, shortly thereafter, he said he saw the police chief’s position advertised for Washington and he said he felt like it was meant to be.
The Washington City Council hired him a few months later.