Richmond, VA _ Less than two weeks after taking over for former Richmond Police Chief William Smith, interim Police Chief, William “Jody” Blackwell says he's leaving the post.
Mayor Levar Stoney asked Smith to resign amid criticsm of the department's response to several weeks of protests that included injuries to some officers and protesters, as well as the toppling and defacing of statues. He says he asked Gerald Smith, currently the deputy police chief in Charlotte-Mecklenberg County, NC, to be Richmond’s next chief of police.
In a statement to city police officers Blackwell wrote:
“As of now I am not longer the the Interim Chief of Police. I ask that you all keep the good fight and I pray that I didn’t serve as a disappointment. I will be submitting a letter requesting to return to my former position. Unfortunately I have not been made aware of who will be appointed as the new Interim Chief. The one thing that is for certain is, that we didn’t allow the current state of this city to define us.”
Shortly after being appointed to the interim post, questions about a fatal 2002 officer-involved shooting involving Blackwell reasurfaced although he was cleared of any wrongdoing at the time of the incident.