Richmond police chief to take oath today

Bryan T. Norwood comes to Richmond from Bridgeport, Conn.

Richmond's new police chief will be sworn in today at Virginia Union University.

The ceremony for Bryan T. Norwood, the former police chief in Bridgeport, Conn., is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. at Coburn Hall.

Outgoing Mayor L. Douglas Wilder will be the keynote speaker. Also speaking will be Norwood, who will be introduced by his father, Alexander Norwood, who lives in Hampton.

Bryan Norwood will assume leadership of the department's roughly 760 sworn officers one day before Richmond residents go to the polls to choose a new mayor.

The chief received a bachelor's degree from Hampton University and worked for the police department in New Haven, Conn., before he became Bridgeport's youngest chief in April 2006.

Norwood, 42, moves from an annual salary of $102,800 in Bridgeport to $140,000 in Richmond. He replaces Rodney Monroe, who left Richmond to become chief in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County, N.C. -- Reed Williams