Perdue names new head of Highway Patrol

Raleigh, N.C. — Gov. Bev Perdue on Monday appointed Lt. Col. Randy Glover to the position of colonel of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Glover, who serves as director of field operations, will assume his new role Aug. 1. Glover replaces Colonel Walter J. Wilson, Jr., who is retiring.

Perdue also appointed Maj. Wellington Scott to fill Glover's position. Scott will also assume his new role Aug. 1.

“Lt. Col. Glover has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout his career with the patrol,” Perdue said in a news release. “I am confident that he will serve this state and the more than 2,300 Highway Patrol employees with honor and distinction."

Glover, a Nashville, N.C., native, has served with the state Highway Patrol since 1980 when he was first assigned to Harnett County. He is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute in Louisville and is a member of the Southern Police Institute Association.

Scott, a Washington, D.C., native, has served on the Highway Patrol since 1985 when he was first assigned to a post in Wake County. He attended Shaw University and is a member of the Body of Christ Church in Raleigh.

The Highway Patrol, created in 1929, employs 1,823 troopers to cover more than 78,000 miles of North Carolina roadways.

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How absolutely perfect. This is sure to play out very well over the next several years. I feel as if I've stepped into the theatre of the absurd...A Governor who names a "personal" friend to a position of leadership isn't something unusual for this state, but seriously...Eastern North Carolina would be proud to have someone named to this position but not surrounded with implication...not with this history...Bev...you caved again to influence and unsound judgement...Those of us who have believed in from your "early" beginnings never cease to be amazed...

Infractus Fides
June 30, 2009 6:48 p.m.

Einventor, how did you know the person tailgating you was a crackhead? And you got pulled for 61 in a 60? And the "terrorist" trooper chose to allow the crackhead to speed so he could pop you for 61? And he was supposed to know you were taking someone to surgery before he pulled you? All I can say is wow. That is quite a story.

thepeopleschamp
June 30, 2009 12:51 p.m.

Someone has to take the fall for Perdue, fix her family and friends tickets and help make sure all internal fraud is just that kept internal. I hope that Glover can get control of the militia he has terrorizing the highways as they are creating a total lack of respect for law enforcement. Fact: doing 60 in a 60 on cruise control, HP officer merges onto I40 and I move left where I am tailgated 3inches off my bumper by a crackhead, i move forward and in front of him and slow back down and I get bluelighted, he proceeded to scream at me for doing 61, my 2 children were in tears and they learned first hand that LEO's are terrorists. We were on our way for scheduled brain surgery for my daughter. He let the crackhead speed by at 75 though. I lost all respect for NCHP that day.

Einventor
June 30, 2009 11:54 a.m.

I agree sweet potato. It should prove interesting how Col Glover disciplines and dismisses troopers for behavior he himself participated in when he was a trooper, yet he has risen to the top.

tiredofit2009
June 30, 2009 10:42 a.m.

Once again Bev Perdue has demonstrated poor judgment and leadership. No wonder her approval rating is ranked 46th among all state governors. She claims she values education, yet she appoints her long time friend, Randy Glover, who lacks a college degree, to the state's top law enforcement position. In addition, he has never worked as a trooper in the field, further damaging his credibility as a respected leader within the highway patrol. Perdue sends a great message to her constituents and a mixed message to members of the highway patrol: education and experience are not as important as stated for promotional consideration; rather, it's about friendship and political patronage. So much for ethical leadership and not operating state government with a "good 'ol boy" mentality. Strange, given her empty campaign promises and the fact that she is our state's first elected female governor. Perhaps all along she wanted nothing more than to be part of the boy's club.

sweetpotato
June 30, 2009 9:28 a.m.