High Point city leaders have begun the search for a new police chief to replace Travis Stroud who is retiring.
Stroud is stepping down effective Nov. 30, and High Point city officials have already posted the position. They’re seeking candidates with a college degree and at least 10 years of law enforcement experience.
Stroud has been with the department since 1995. He was named interim chief in the summer of 2020, replacing Ken Schultz, who retired that year. Stroud took over during a time of heightened tensions with the Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-related shutdowns.
In an interview this month, Stroud said there’s been a 5% drop this year in High Point’s impact crimes compared to the same period in 2022. Those offenses include personal crimes like murder and robbery, and property violations such as burglaries and car thefts.
Stroud said the department is also continuing the long-running work of its Violent Crimes Task Force, which places an emphasis on reigning in the city’s worst offenders.
“Out of 117,000 people inside the city, we have probably less than 30 that are our main ones that cause us problems every single day," he said. "Those are the ones that we need to concentrate our efforts on.”
Stroud noted that the department faces ongoing struggles that many other agencies are also facing, including gun violence in the community and more than 30 unfilled jobs in the department.