John Thompson was first appointed as Greensboro’s Police Chief in 2022.
He stepped into the role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over his tenure, the city has seen a decline in violent crime, but has also faced calls from the community to end tactics like regulatory stops and safety frisks.
Now, after decades of working in law enforcement, he’s preparing to turn in his badge and move on to the next chapter of his life.
WFDD’s DJ Simmons recently spoke with Chief Thompson.
Interview highlights
On his decision to retire:
"I have twins at home. I have a boy and a girl, 10-year-old twins, and it was really seeing, especially over the last three years, how much time I've missed with them. Chief of police is a very taxing position. It takes a lot of time for me to do it right. I needed to be engaged in the community, nights, weekends, days, and so for me, it was just missing that time with my kids."
On reducing violent crime in Greensboro:
"We focused on individuals in our community who have a history of committing violence, who have shown that they are still engaged in committing violence in our community, and really just narrowed, became laser-focused on those individuals. And I think once we did that, and we started seeing those individuals taken out of the community, that we saw those drops in crime."
On GPD maintaining public trust moving forward:
"It's going to take a chief. It's going to take leadership here that can come to the table, that can be transparent about their concerns, about why they think or don't think it would be a good idea, and really have some tough conversations with the community."