PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Portsmouth has named a new police chief three months after the city announced former chief Tonya Chapman had resigned from the post.
The city said in a news release that Angela M. Greene, who has served as acting chief for months, will now take on that title beginning Friday.
Greene, a 19-year law enforcement veteran, joined the Portsmouth Police Department as assistant chief in August 2016.
City Manager Dr. L. Pettis Patton said in a statement, “Through her leadership, professional history, community vision, and commitment to public safety and public service, Chief Greene will continue to serve the City of Portsmouth with excellence as our new Police Chief.”
City officials named Greene acting chief in March after the announcement that Chapman — the first black woman to lead a municipal police force in Virginia — had resigned.
Chapman claimed she was forced to do so because some well-connected officers in the department had lost confidence in her.
In a letter to Portsmouth’s citizens on March 25, Chapman said she had never seen the “degree of bias and acts of systemic racism, discriminatory practices, and abuse of authority” in her 30-year law enforcement career.
