City Manager Ken Larking announced today that Police Chief Scott Booth will be leaving the City of Danville to accept the position of police chief for the City of Roanoke. Booth’s last day as police chief in Danville will be October 31.
Larking noted the dramatic reduction in crime rates under during Booth’s tenure.
“While I am disappointed that Chief Booth will be leaving us, I am incredibly thankful for what he and his team have accomplished under his leadership,” Larking said. “I am happy for him to have this new opportunity and for the people in Roanoke. Scott and the department have built a winning system in Danville.”
Mayor Alonzo Jones agreed, saying, “He’s done a great job for the City of Danville, and he deserves praise for the work he has done. To see crime at the lowest rates in years, the partnerships between the police department and the community that are now in place, and the high level of engagement and trust with citizens speaks volumes for Chief Booth and the entire department.”
Booth has been the chief of police in Danville since February 2018. “Over the last five years, we have worked together as a city to meet several goals, including reducing violent crime and establishing community-based policing, which has become the Danville model,” Booth said. “Through a philosophy of having leaders in the department that are empowered to act, and lead by example, the Danville community has come together and established a better tomorrow for the future.”
During his tenure, he has been recognized for his leadership in reducing crime, community policing, and community engagement. Most recently, Booth received national recognition with the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award from the National Gang Crime Research Center. The award recognizes Booth’s accomplishments for superior leadership, specifically as it relates to reducing gang-related crime in the community.
In 2022, he was awarded the Innovation in Government Award by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. In 2020, he received the Excellence in Policing Award by Radford University’s Center for Police Practice, Policy, and Research.
I want to wish and pray that you will be as successful there as you were in Danville. If things don’t work out, I hope you would consider coming back to Danville. We love you here in this city. May God bless and keep you and your family.
Vera D Myers