Staff report
Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm has announced the promotions of three men in his department.
Patrol Lt. Rory Collins has been elevated to deputy chief. The 18-year department veteran will continue to serve as director of Project SAFE, the federal program to reduce gun violence.
Sgt. Rodney Harris, with the department since 1990, has been promoted to lieutenant. Harris had been a patrol sergeant and most recently sergeant of professional standards, which he will continue to oversee. He also is adviser to the Police Explorers.
Officer Jeffrey “J.J.” Wilkerson was promoted to sergeant. The 11-year veteran has experience on canine, gang and patrol units.Assessments on which the promotions are based were conducted March 10-11, Wilhelm said.
Wilhelm also announced last week that the Salisbury Police Department won national accreditation for the sixth time.
Lt. Trevor Allen led the department-wide effort for its fifth reaccreditation, which came with a “meritorious” finding. The department had to meet 459 separate standards for the designation.
Salisbury City Manager David Treme said the Police Department is one of the “flagship agencies” in the country in terms of accreditation.
In an aside, Allen will be resigning from the department April 11 and is moving to South Carolina.
At a recent City Council meeting, Mayor Susan Kluttz thanked the Police Department for all of its extra work in March related to traffic and crowd control, memorial service logistics and investigations into the March 7 fire at Salisbury Millwork.
Officers also served as guides to fire calls being answered by out-of-town departments filling in at Salisbury stations in the days immediately after the fire, which claimed the lives of two Salisbury firefighters.
Police also had to deal with visits to Salisbury by actors George Clooney and Renee Zellweger and former President Bill Clinton.