ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (WAVY) – The Elizabeth City Police Department has announced its new police chief.

Chief J. Philip Webster was named interim police chief in August 2022 and on Tuesday he was offered the permanent role of chief of police.

According to a press release, Webster is originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and then served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years after graduating from high school. He then went and got a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina.

Webster began his law enforcement career in 1992 with the North Myrtle Beach Police Department and eventually became their police chief in 2014.

He retired in 2017, and then in 2019, he and his wife relocated to North Carolina where he then became the chief of police for the Nags Head Police Department. He worked in Nags Head for three-and-a-half years.