Columbia chief joins national group that’s seeking solutions to police reform
Columbia Police Chief William “Skip” Holbrook will be part of a national group seeking to put an end to racial discrimination among police officers.
The United States Conference of Mayors appointed Holbrook to its Police Reform and Racial Justice Working Group. The group’s job is to “find solutions to end police violence and patterns of racial discrimination among law enforcement agencies,” according to a statement Tuesday from the Columbia Police Department.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who was president of the Conference of Mayors from 2018 to 2019, said the group “has recognized the outstanding service and leadership achievements of Chief Holbrook.”
“Many of the policing reforms now being called for across the country have already been put into practice by Skip Holbrook in Columbia, which has made our city’s police force a national model of best practices,” Benjamin said.
The working group is made up of mayors from Chicago, Tampa and Cincinnati, and the police chiefs of Baltimore and Phoenix.
The group is led by Charles Ramsey, former police chief in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. and co-chair of former President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
Holbrook was appointed chief of the Columbia Police Department in 2014. He has more than 28 years of law enforcement experience. Under Holbrook’s leadership, the Columbia Police Department is implementing organizational and operational reforms, which have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice for 21st Century policing efforts.
Holbrook received the 2018 Strom Thurmond Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement.