Anonymous ID: aac34d June 26, 2020, 8:22 p.m. No.9762572   🗄️.is đź”—kun

"Interim Richmond Police Chief William “Jody” Blackwell [shown in pic] stepped down Friday afternoon. Hours later, at a news conference shortly before 9 p.m., Mayor Levar Stoney announced he had hand-picked a new police chief to take over the department under fire for its handling of Black Lives Matter protests that have gripped the city for the past four weeks.

The revelation left even members of the City Council questioning who was in charge of the department amid its most tumultuous period in decades. A spokesman for the Richmond Police Department said Friday that Blackwell was “no longer interim chief” in a statement.

Two hours later, Stoney said Blackwell would remain in command until Smith takes over July 1. He thanked Blackwell for his work, and said he would return to his previous role with the department.

The abrupt change in leadership was the coda on a week that saw the department fire tear gas and other so-called “less lethal” weapons at protesters decrying police brutality, drawing condemnation from some City Council members, demonstrators and resident."

 

richmond.com/news/local/updated-stoney-announces-new-richmond-police-chief-as-interim-chief-steps-down-after-11-days/article_6bbbcc71-dc12-5752-bb70-db9f10d4c3f1.html