HAMPTON, Va. — In a YouTube video, Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting made the announcement that Police Chief Terry Sult would retire on April 1 and that Assistant Chief Kenny Ferguson will act as interim chief until the city hires its next police leader.
Bunting said Sult announced his intent to retire in October, but agreed to stay until April so the city could start the search for its next chief. She said he had her "heartfelt thanks" for the way's he'd "moved the organization forward over his tenure."
"As all of you know, we've made significant strides in technology, but also in our manpower," Bunting said. "I think we have roughly 25 more people on the compliment of HPD than we did when Chief Sult arrived, and the combination of the additional manpower, the technology, new facilities like the academy building, have propelled us to be an even stronger organization than we were when he arrived."
He'd held the role since October 2013, according to the city's website.
Ferguson has been with the Hampton Police Division since 1987, and has held the role of assistant chief since 2013, Bunting said.
The city manager said Hampton hired a firm to search nationwide for candidates for the open police chief role.
She said there were several strong candidates, and the city had already finished the first round of interviews. There were several more steps to the selection process, which includes an assessment from regional law enforcement teams, neighborhood leaders, the faith community and nonprofits.
Bunting hoped to have a finalist by late April.
