Will council please come to order and will the clerk please call the role?

Anderson is absent.

Bush.

Here.

Oliver.

Here.

Ford?

Here.

Smith?

Here.

Mattingley?

Here.

Seven.

Here.

We are going to begin this evening with recognition for uh Chief Anthony Wilson.

So if you'll join me there at the little round microphone.

I got the wrong piece of paper.

Don't forget that.

This is a resolution honoring Chief Anthony Wilson.

Whereas Chief Anthony Wilson began his career as a Blacksburg police officer in 1997 and advanced through the department ranks until he was appointed Blacksburg Police Chief in 2014.

Whereas Chief Wilson spent his youth in Blacks, served in the Marine Corps, and graduated from Virginia Tech.

Whereas Chief Wilson has served as a patrol field training officer, criminal investigator, investigative unit supervisor, tactical team operator, commander, patrol unit commander, and division commander.

Whereas during his tenure, Chief Wilson emphasized community engagement and launched safety programs.

He also created strong relationships with the Virginia Tech Administration, the Athletics Department, and the student body, including an alliance with university relations to coordinate crisis messaging during serious events.

Whereas Chief Wilson created the training triangle that has become the cornerstone of the department training.

The triangle includes increased tactical training, advanced communication, and de-escalation skills, spiritual connection to service, and psychological wellness.

Whereas Chief Wilson has been an active member of the law enforcement issue group, working to increase the number of African American police officers in the department.

Chief Wilson was also heavily involved in the Montgomery County Dialogue on Race Initiative.

Whereas Chief Wilson helped create the b books to badges program, which offered two-year scholarships to those interested in law enforcement careers and grew to become the broader access community college education program.

And whereas Chief Wilson served as co-chair for the New River Valley Public Health Task Force, which became the driving force in the region's pandemic response.

Now therefore, be it resolved by the council of the town of Blacksburg, Virginia, the Chief Anthony Wilson be recognized and appreciated for his contributions and untiring service, as well as his leadership and faithful commitment to the town and its citizens.

Before he gives a speech, I think we have we have another uh recognition.

Um tonight um we're gonna announce that we're gonna dedicate uh a new wing of the new police station in Anthony's honor.

Um we're gonna we're gonna have the Anthony S.

Wilson training center.

Um you can see the the wall with his name emblazoned on it, and then this is this is the diagram of the training center.

Um and I'll I'll leave that up for when he speaks because I'm sure he'll want to describe that to you a bit.

But um as the resolution stated, you know, Chief's been um you know, he's been with our police department since 97 and you know, quickly advanced through the ranks, became chief in 2014, and training and education and preparation was really always at the core of who he was as an officer coming up through the ranks, but also as chief.

Um in and throughout his career, he um was involved in some of the the really the toughest things that ever happened in this town.

Um and he and the officers were prepared for these situations because of that that training and education um that they undertook throughout his career.

He also created a lot of education programs in the community, the No Hokie Left Behind, the Be Safe Blacksburg, the Adopt a Cop Academy, those are educational programs for college students and school children.

He always saw his unique role as a college town police chief.

Understanding that educating children and forming them into young adults is part of the mission of this town and also part of the mission of his department.

He worked with New River Community College to create the Books to Badges program and other educational program that was designed to encourage local kids to get an education, to get a career in law enforcement, and then that turned into a much larger effort for the ACE program.

He worked on that with a lot of help from Angie as well to put that program into place, which gives any any student who wants to go to New River Community College in our region a two-year free education to do that with a with a community service commitment too that he had that he helped run as well.

And the mayor mentioned the training triangle and his philosophy on training, the department's philosophy on training, and really looking at training communication skills in the officers, making sure that they have a spiritual connection to their to their work, also training them in tactical excellence.

Those are really the three cornerstones of the uh of the training triangle and this training wing uh that really the training wing of this police department is built around that philosophy.

And I'll and and chief may want to talk about that a little bit more.

Um, but he's always you know, he's always uh led a department that's um had a strong culture of service, was a compassionate department that served our community well.

Um he's always been a true community leader, more than just a police chief, um, always willing to step up to to lead any effort in our community.

So, with that, you know, I'm I'm I'm happy that that we've chosen to name this training center in this new building after Chief Wilson.

Um it's really returning the gift that he gave our community, gave our police department um through um all of his training efforts throughout his career.

So, with that, um I'd like to congratulate Chief Wilson and honor him with this uh new training facility.

So thanks, Chief.

This is the easiest, easiest time I'll ever stand in front of you.

Well, not early.

This is actually the hardest time I'll ever stand in front of you.

Thank you for what you've done for us.

I I was at the building today.

Um it's magnificent.