On this day in 1999, Linda Davis took oath as Winston-Salem’s first female police chief.
Police Chief Linda Gibson Petree Davis is a native of Winston-Salem and a graduate of R. J. Reynolds High School. She joined the police department in 1969, and rose through the ranks. Along the way, she was the first woman to hold the rank of officer, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, assistant police chief and chief.
Chief Davis had retired from the police department as an assistant chief in December 1998, but agreed to serve as interim chief after George Sweat retired in January 1999. City Manager Bill Stuart asked Davis to take the job, and she was sworn in March 1999.
Davis retired in 2004, after five years as chief.
The photo above shows Davis as a lieutenant in the police department.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
