Goldman Backs McCoy for Police Chief

Goldman for Mayor - 9 September 2008 - For Immediate Release

Goldman Backs McCoy for Police Chief

"Given the incredible success in the fight against crime since we started the Elected Mayor form of government, Mr. McCoy has earned the great honor of having the word "Interim" removed and just being known as Richmond Police Chief David McCoy."

(Richmond) - Paul Goldman, candidate for Mayor, says "Mr. David McCoy, a 23-year veteran of the Richmond Police Department, has been a integral part of one of the most successful crime-fighting teams not just in the history of Richmond, but around the country. He is a professional who knows how to keep our success going."

"My opponents were happy with the old way of policing, they opposed my efforts to change our form of government, which is the only reason we could get someone like former Chief Rodney Monroe. Under the old system championed by Mr. Pantele and City Council, we would be stuck with a failed anti-crime strategy that they knew was failing, but they didn't have the courage to change.

Mayor Wilder used his power under the new form of government to get Rodney Monroe to come to Richmond: and the rest, as they say, is history.

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, why change horses in midstream now, when we have finally turned the corner in the fight against crime?

A decade ago, in an article for the Richmond Times Dispatch, I wrote that if we went to an elected Mayor, I guaranteed we would get a new, successful approach to fighting crime that would cut the murder rate by 30%.

Mayor Wilder made the right choice in choosing Rodney Monroe. Now, David McCoy is the right person to keep our anti-crime successes going. The record speaks for itself.

With Chief McCoy, Commonwealth Attorney Herring, and Mayor Goldman, citizens will have a crime-fighting team that has a proven record of being willing to make the changes necessary to help make our loved ones safer and keep Richmond from returning to the days when it was ranked as one of the most dangerous towns in America.

I applaud our police officers for their bravery and their success. As Mayor Wilder leaves office, he has a right to be proud of his efforts to build one of the most successful police departments in the country."

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