CHOCOWINITY — An eight-year veteran of the Chocowinity Police Department is the town’s new lead law enforcement officer.

Greg Garris was appointed chief during a brief meeting Thursday evening and was sworn in by Mayor Jimmy Mobley as town officials, family members, friends and coworkers looked on.

Garris succeeds longtime police chief Todd Alligood, who left two weeks ago to become the director of law enforcement training at Beaufort County Community College. Alligood had served as Chocowinity’s police chief since 1996.

“Greg is a very knowledgeable officer; he brings a wealth of knowledge with him from his past work with other departments,” said Mobley. “He’s the type of person that can stop you and talk to you, and when you leave you’re not mad at him. He’s just got that type of personality. He’s going through the neighborhood meeting people and he’s making himself available to people who need him.”

Garris, 49, has been in law enforcement since 1986.

“I started the day I turned 20,” he recalled. Garris added that a family tragedy when he was just a youngster contributed to his career choice.

“I had a grandfather who was beaten in a country store in Greene County in the 1970s and he died a couple days later,” Garris said. “The case was never solved, and I always wished that more could have been done. That was the driving force in me wanting to get into law enforcement.”

Garris first worked for the Bethel Police Department, later joining the Pitt County Sheriff’s Office where he rose to the rank of lieutenant. He worked with the Grifton Police Department before signing on with Chocowinity eight years ago.

“My wife Wanda and I had a camper on Gilead Shores Road in Blounts Creek and we liked the area,” Garris said. “We bought a home nearby and I applied for a job with Chocowinity.”

Garris praised the efforts of Alligood, who served the town as chief for nearly two decades.

“I really walked into a good department,” he said.

Garris plans to continue to build up the police department, including updating equipment and working on grants necessary for the operation of a small department. He also wants to be more involved in the community.

He said he is thankful for the opportunity to serve the town and its residents.

“Chocowinity has some good citizens … there are good people that live here,” Garris noted. “The problem people come from outside Chocowinity, but the people that live here are good people.”

Alligood said that Chocowinity is in good hands.

“I do wish Greg well and I know he will do a great job for the town,” the former chief said of his successor.