News Flash

Assistant Police Chief William Penn, Jr. will be sworn in as Winston-Salem’s new police chief at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, during a ceremony in the City Hall Council Chamber.

Citizens can attend the ceremony or watch live on WSTV 13, channel 13 on Spectrum Cable or Channel 99 on AT&T U-verse in Forsyth County. Citizens can also watch WSTV 13 on the city’s website, CityofWS.org or the city’s YouTube channel at cityofWS.org/YouTube.

Penn, 48, is a 25-year veteran of the Winston-Salem Police Department. He was most recently in charge of the Investigative Services Bureau and has served as District 1 commander, support services commander and has worked with the foot patrol, vice and narcotics and crime prevention divisions.

Penn is a native of Winston-Salem. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has a master’s degree in business administration from Winston-Salem State University. He also is a graduate of the Administrative Officers Management Program at North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government Fellows Leadership Cohort, the Transform Law Enforcement Colloquium at the University of Kentucky and the Piedmont Leadership Academy.

He is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and is assistant scoutmaster to the Old Hickory Council Boy Scout Troop 912. He currently serves on the boards of the Experiment in Self-Reliance and Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County and was recently appointed to the Commission on Ending Homelessness.