Holly Hill appoints new police chief

The city of Holly Hill will officially swear in its new police chief next week. Police Chief Byron K. Williams replaces the former chief who resigned following allegations of sexual harassment in the department. Williams, 46, is a 25-year veteran of the Daytona Beach Police Department. A native of Quincy, Florida, he was ready to retire and spend more time with his two children and wife. He says Ronette, his wife, inspired him to apply for the police chief job. “She just said this is God’s will, you have to do this, and that’s all she had to say,” the police chief said. The city manager named Williams the new police chief after receiving 50 applications from across the U.S. But Williams takes the helm at a time when the department is overshadowed by allegations of sexual harassment in police leadership, where the former police chief and two high-ranking officers have resigned. He says they can rebuild with the right training, including sexual harassment and cultural diversity. “With the necessary persistence on my part, I feel this agency can recover from this and we will recover from this,” the chief said. He says the community is key. “We can’t do this without the support and help of the community, we can’t,” Williams said. “We find that the majority of our crimes are solved by citizens calling and saying they saw something they knew who that person was, not by us finding out on our own.” Williams said during last Thursday’s meet and greet that he feels he has the community’s support. There are currently 31 employees, including 26 full-time officers and five civilian employees. He wants to hire at least two more officers. Byron Williams is also Holly Hill’s first African-American police chief and says it’s an honor. “One thing I don’t want to do is be defined by being the first African-American police chief. I want to be defined as the first person that came in to do the job,” Williams said. Williams takes office on July 8, but a public swearing-in ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. on July 9 at City Hall. “It’s time to get to work. I’m not looking back anymore.” “There’s a lot of work to do to move forward with this agency and I need to hit the ground running, so I’m already thinking about tomorrow,” Williams said. Williams plans to use his first 100 days in office to see where the department is and what has been accomplished. He says it’s more about transparency and keeping residents involved and informed of what’s going on with the police department.