Winston-Salem State University Honors Retiring Chief of Police
Filed in Honors & Awards on January 3, 2020
Patricia Norris, who stepped down as chief of campus police at Winston-Salem State University on December 31, will have the university’s police and public safety building named in her honor. Her husband, Robert Norris, made a secret naming donation in honor of his wife to secure a memorable retirement gift.
“Over the course of her tenure here, she has really transformed community policing and what it means for a college campus,” said Elwood Robinson, chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. “Under her leadership, she has been able to get students to think about policing in a different way. She has been able to meet students where they are and learn from them. She is someone who cares about the students and has become someone students can come to if they had a problem.”
Norris, who is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University. She has served as chief of the university’s police department for the past 11 years. Earlier, during a 42-year career in law enforcement, Norris was chief of police for the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
