Raleigh has selected its next police chief.
Estella Patterson will take over at the Raleigh Police Department on Aug. 1.
She has been with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for 25 years and is currently a deputy chief there. According to WCNC, she oversees CMPD's Patrol Services Group.
"She understands the important issues that police departments across our country are facing today and she is more than capable of leading RPD in this new era of policing," City Manager Marchell Adams-David said in a statement. "Now more than ever, leadership matters, community connections matter and I believe Estella Patterson is the right person for the job."
Adams-David said that candidates from "all over the country" were vetted for the position during the nationwide search.
Patterson has an M.S. in criminal justice from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in political science from UNC-Charlotte. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and also served as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves from 1996-2005.
At a recent forum with three finalists for the Raleigh job, Patterson said she'd address the city's rising gun violence by looking at it as a public health crisis.
"It's really a collaborative approach that we have to have a unified approach with partners from across all spectrums, all stakeholders, we need nonprofits, we need businesses economic growth, we need to education system to really be effective," she said.
Patterson will succeed Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown, who is retiring at the end of this month.
Beginning July 1 and lasting through Aug. 1 — when Patterson takes the reins —
Deputy Chief Todd Jordan will serve as interim Chief of Police.
