Voters have chosen 32-year police veteran Brian Staley over one-term incumbent Thomas Rice to serve as commissioner of the Port Washington Police District.
The district reported that Staley, a retired deputy chief, won with 787 votes to Rice’s 393 in Tuesday’s election.
Both Staley and Rice ran on a platform of finding capital funds to improve the district’s headquarters. Staley also emphasized transparency, building trust between police and the community, and focusing on reforms in his campaign.
The first Black person to win the position, Staley will serve for three years on the district’s Board of Commissioners, along with Angela Mullins, who was re-elected in 2018, and Frank Scobbo Jr., who was elected in 2019.
The election marks the second year in a row in which a police commissioner was unseated by a challenger, following Scobbo’s defeat of incumbent David Franklin last year.
In a phone interview with Blank Slate Media, Rice, who was elected in 2017, thanked the community “for the past three years.”
“Our chief’s office is best in the history of the department, and I want to thank my wife for all her hard work,” Rice said. “I am excited to work with Brian Staley in the transition.”
In a video posted to his campaign’s Facebook page on Tuesday night, Staley is shown entering a room to the cheers of his supporters.
“I promise you, I’m going to hear your voice and do the best for the Police Department and this community,” Staley said to the camera.
