Police Chief

The innovative and growing City of Wilson, NC, is seeking a collaborative and forward-thinking Chief of Police to lead a department at an important moment of organizational change and community growth. The next Chief must be a visible, engaged leader who prioritizes communication, trust-building, and morale while creating a culture where employees feel heard, supported, and valued. Staff are looking for a Chief who has an inclusive and transparent leadership style that empowers supervisors, promotes accountability, and strengthens communication across all levels of the organization.

The ideal candidate combines strong people skills with solid, hands‑on policing experience—someone who understands the importance of supporting experienced officers while mentoring and developing a younger workforce that may view policing differently than past generations. The department sees significant potential in its newest hires and is looking for a leader who listens actively, understands a changing workforce, remains open to new ideas, and provides clear, consistent direction.

Equally important is a commitment to community policing and relationship-building. The next Chief will maintain strong connections with residents, the community, and regional partners while ensuring the department remains responsive to a growing, increasingly diverse community. Above all, the next Chief will bring integrity, transparency, and a willingness to listen—recognizing that the department has strong potential, new staff with significant promise, employees who want to be led, and a genuine openness to new ideas.

The City of Wilson was incorporated in 1849 and is located on the eastern seaboard along Interstate 95 in NC. It is the largest municipality in Wilson County and serves as the county seat. The city, once known as the World's Greatest Tobacco Market, covers nearly 33 square miles of land and is just 40 miles from the state's capital, Raleigh.

Today, Wilson enjoys a diverse economy, including a healthy mix of more than 1800 private businesses in biotech, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, commercial, and service industries. Wilson is home to several major companies, including Bridgestone Americas, Collins UTC Aerospace Systems, Truist Bank, Merck, Novartis, Fresenius Kabi, BD Medical, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Alliance One Tobacco, United Technologies, Duke-LifePoint Healthcare, and Linamar, with recent announcements of Fed-Ex, Johnson & Johnson and Schott Pharma.

In addition to employment, Wilson has worked hard to be a community of choice. The City's investment in state‑of‑the‑art recreational facilities creates outstanding leisure and recreational opportunities for residents. These facilities have attracted youth baseball and soccer teams to play in national and regional tournaments. A hallmark of Wilson is Greenlight, the City's state‑of‑the‑art, fiber‑to‑the‑premise system that provides customers with affordable data, voice, and video services.

Since its inception in 2008, Greenlight has grown to provide services to more than 13,000 customers. Greenlight was the first service provider in the state to offer Gigabit Fiber‑to‑the‑Home service, making Wilson North Carolina's Gigabit City, boasting some of the fastest internet speeds in the United States.

Wilson's nearly 50,000 community members love the city's friendly neighborhood culture, annual festivals, and events that connect the community, and the abundance of parks, walking trails, and lakes to explore. They appreciate Wilson's landscape and mild climate. Known for the best Eastern N.C.

-style pork barbecue, Wilson's many restaurants highlight abundant offerings and are known to draw long lines and repeat customers.

Historic Downtown Wilson features excellent cuisine, craft beverages, unique treasures, custom furniture, handmade artisan goods, a vibrant art scene, a social district with lively entertainment, and a growing residential population. Wilson is also home to Barton College, a four‑year, private, liberal arts college that provides nearly 1,200 undergraduate students and almost 80 graduate students with a strong…