Glenn “Mick” Reed, Washington’s police chief, has resigned, with the resignation taking effect at 5 p.m. Feb. 29.

City Manager Josh Kay announced Reed’s resignation in a news release issued Wednesday.

Reed’s resignation letter reads, in part, “it is my intent to seek other opportunities.”

“It has been a pleasure living in this community and I appreciate so many friendships we have made,” the release quotes Reed as saying. “It has been an honor to serve with the men and women of the Washington Police Department. I wish only the best for them and our community.”

“I appreciate all the work that Chief Reed has put into the Washington Police Department and wish him the best in his future endeavors,” Kay wrote in the release.

Kay did not provide a schedule for the process to replace Reed.

“We have some great people in our organization who can step up and continue to lead the Police Department. I will work diligently to find a leader who can work with our community and can continue to provide a high level of public safety to our citizens and businesses,” Kay wrote in the release.

Kay, during a brief interview Wednesday, said he plans to meet with the police department’s management team soon to discuss how the department will operate as the city looks for a new police chief.

Asked if Reed’s resignation had anything to do with possible tension between the police department and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Kay said, “His resignation letter does not mention that.”

Attempts to contact Reed and Mayor Archie Jennings on Wednesday evening for comments were unsuccessful.

During the spring of 2011, Reed was one of three finalists in the running for the police chief’s job in Wrightsville Beach.

At some City Council meetings, Reed has publicly stated his difference of opinion with some council members over certain matters, including the city handing over its E-911 service to Beaufort County. Last year, after pursuing a new police station for several years, the council chose to suspend that pursuit. Reed has advocated for a new police station.

Some people, including at least one law-enforcement officer, criticized Reed for his handling of a standoff situation in the city June 15, 2011. Harry Meredith, former chief deputy of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, faults Reed for “making unsound, reckless decisions” during the standoff. He also contends Reed “endangered the life of a civilian” and possibly lives of SWAT members.

“I don’t consider it appropriate, I don’t consider it productive to engage in a discussion where there is a difference of opinion in law enforcement,” Reed said in an interview conducted in July 2011. “I have never felt that it would be my place to engage in that kind of conversation in public.”

Reed is a strong advocate for community policing. Not long after coming to Washington, Reed was instrumental in setting up Project Next Step, which received an Award of Excellence from the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission in December 2010. The project identifies individuals involved in unlawful conduct and presents a unique manner to deal with them. If successful, the intervention eliminates overt criminal activity while bringing city and community resources available to alter the individual’s lifestyle, according to project spokesmen.

Project Next Step is credited with helping lower the crime rate in Washington.

Washington’s major-crimes rate for the first six moths of 2010 was down about 10 percent compared to the first six months of 2009, according to data released by the Washington Police Department earlier this year.

That decrease follows a 26-percent decline in the crime rate from 2008 through 2009.

In the first six months of 2010, the number of reported major crimes – murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, vehicle theft and arson – totaled 325, down from the 364 reported for the first six months of 2009 and down from the 442 reported in the first six months of 2008, according to data provided by the department.

Reed was appointed chief of the Washington Police Department in June 2007, replacing Joe Stringer. Before coming to Washington, Reed served as police chief in South Boston, Va., since 2005. Before that, he worked at the Salem (Va.) Police Department for more than 24 years. Reed has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from Bluefield College. He attended executive management programs at the University of Richmond and North Carolina State University.

The Washington Police Department is budgeted to have 48 employees. Currently, it has 45 employees, including eight employees who are not sworn officers, according to the city’s Human Resources Department.