Winston-Salem Police Department
| Winston-Salem Police Department | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | WSPD |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1913 |
| Preceding agencies |
|
| Employees | 732 (559 Officers, 173 civilian) (2017)[1] [2] |
| Annual budget | $80.3 million (2022)[3] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States |
| Governing body | Winston-Salem City Council |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 725 North Cherry Street Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27101 |
| Sworn members | 559 (2017)[2] |
| Unsworn members | 173 (2017)[2] |
| Agency executive |
|
| Units | List
|
| Commands | List
|
| Facilities | |
| Districts | 3 |
| Website | |
| [1] | |
The Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD) is the police department of Winston-Salem inside of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. The department consists of 559 sworn officers and 173 non-sworn officers (as of 2017[update]).[2] This Department serves the 5th largest city in the state, and is divided into 3 districts. The department covers the entire city, which is 133.8 square miles (347 km2).
The department is run by the Chief of Police, and is assisted by 4 assistant chiefs. The Chief of Police reports directly to an Assistant City Manager and the Winston-Salem City Council. The Chief of Police is William H. PENN Jr., who has been serving since January 2023.
History[edit]
The WSPD was formed when the towns of Winston and Salem merged in 1913. When the towns merged, the Winston Police Department and the Salem Police Department also merged.
In 1967, a Winston-Salem policeman hit and killed a black man. Rioting broke out after his funeral on November 2 and lasted through the next night. The Winston-Salem Police and the National Guard unsuccessfully attempted to end the riots.[4] At the time, the New York Times described these riots as "the worst outbreak of racial violence in North Carolina in this century."[5]
In October of 2018, a white officer acting as a school resource officer was accused of slamming a black female student to the ground and arresting her without provocation. The student claimed that the SRO and school administration followed her, and the officer slammed her to the ground.[6] This situation was compared to an incident that took place in South Carolina 2 years before, where and officer was seen flipping a student to the ground.[7] The officer was wearing a body camera, but due to North Carolina law, a court order was required to release the footage. This order came a month later.[8][9] This footage showed that the officer asked the student to 17 times to stop and come talk to him, and an independent investigation into the incident praised the officer for his de-escalation technique, and was found to have not broken department policy.[10] The Ministers Conference Of Winston-Salem backed down from their calls for the officer to be fired once the footage was released, and praised the department for releasing the footage.[10]
In the summer of 2020, Winston-Salem reacted to the murder of George Floyd, like many cities across the United States and World. The police response in Winston-Salem was different than in other cities, even within North Carolina. During the protests, Chief Thompson, who is black, appeared out of uniform, in civilian clothes and addressed the protesters. She made a promise that as long as the protests stayed peaceful, they would have the full support of the department, saying "I want to show the rest of America that our voices can and will be heard, and that can be done without tearing our city apart.”[11] The protests in Winston-Salem remained peaceful throughout, even with a city population of 250,000. The protesters partnered with the police and local businesses to present a unified message, and this was praised by elected officials.[11][12]
References[edit]
- ^ Haywood, Najla. "The Winston-Salem Police Department: "It's Just like Breathing Everyday"". cops.usdoj.gov. COPS Office. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d Najla, Haywood. "The Winston-Salem Police Department: "It's Just like Breathing Everyday"". cops.usdoj.gov. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ YOUNG, WESLEY. "Winston-Salem approves budget for 2021-22 with 61.24 cent tax rate". journalnow.com. Winston-Salem Journal. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ "RACIAL OUTBREAK IN WINSTON-SALEM; Guard Called After Negroes Set Fires in Carolina City". The New York Times. 3 November 1967. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ "RIOTING RESUMES IN WINSTON-SALEM; Curfew and Guard Defied, but Trouble Is Scattered". The New York Times. 4 November 1967. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ BALOGUN, RILWAN. "Police Investigating Altercation at Hanes Magnet School". spectrumlocalnews.com. Spectrum News. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ AP. "No criminal charges for deputy seen dragging SC high school student in video". www.cbsnews.com. CBS News. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ "Judge orders police to release body-cam footage of controversial middle school arrest to the public". KBZK. 7 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ Journal, Michael Hewlett, John Hinton and Sarah Newell Winston-Salem. "Bodycam video shows officer told teenage girl in Winston-Salem to stop 17 times before arrest". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Body-Cam Video Shows SRO Handcuff, Arrest 14-Year-Old at Hanes Magnet Middle School". wfmynews2.com. WFMY. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ a b Dickey, Bronwen. "How One Police Chief Kept Her City from Blowing Up This Summer". POLITICO. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ Denyer, Lee Anne (27 July 2020). "Protesters hold more demonstrations Tuesday evening in downtown Winston-Salem". WXII. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2022.