Thompson Named Winston-Salem Police Chief

Winston-Salem City Manager Lee Garrity has chosen to hire in-house for the new police chief, selecting Assistant Chief Catrina Thompson. She's a 23-year veteran of the department.

“I am honored to have been offered this opportunity and I take the responsibility for the physical security of our city seriously,” she says in a statement released Friday. “Our police department will continue efforts to reduce crime and increase public safety for all residents, businesses and visitors in Winston-Salem, especially our youth.”

She was one of two finalists for the job, along with Maj. Cameron Selvey of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Late in the search, city officials began a review of Selvey's social media activity after learning of Twitter posts that could be considered controversial.

That has some questioning how the search might have proceeded if they had known about them sooner.

Several of Selvey's posts were about music and sports. But there were also retweets of political opinions, including links to Allen West, a former Republican congressman known for his in-your-face conservative media posts.

Selvey told the Winston-Salem Journal that reposting them didn't mean he endorsed the ideas.

In her current position, Thompson, a native of Detroit, is the assistant chief in charge of investigations. She will take over for Chief Barry Rountree, who is retiring Sept. 1.

Garrity says her annual salary will be $150,000. The department has 570 sworn officers and an annual budget of $74.5 million.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Cameron Selvey as Cameron Stanley in one instance.