New Elkton police chief a native son
November 17, 2009 | Virginia News
By Jeremy Hunt, Harrisonburg Daily News-Record
ELKTON - Kevin Whitfield fulfilled a roughly 15-year-old goal of becoming chief of the Elkton Police Department on Monday.
With Elkton as his hometown, and with a lot of family living in the area, Whitfield says he has a "vested interest" in keeping the community safe.
A 1988 Spotswood High School graduate, Whitfield, 39, was born and raised in Elkton and started his career with a brief stint on the town's police force in 1995. He was then hired on at the Harrisonburg Police Department, and held a variety of roles over the decade he worked there, including as a criminal investigator. "I'm an investigator at heart," he said. "That's what I did the majority of the time I was in the city." Whitfield was appointed head of the Elkton Police Department on Monday by Town Council, effective immediately, with an annual salary of $42,000. He replaces Jim Morris, who resigned last month to work for a private company. Elkton Mayor Larry Bompiani said Whitfield's previous experience set him apart from the other candidates, although all three finalists were qualified for the job. The new chief lives in McGaheysville with his wife and daughter. Whitfield left the Harrisonburg department in 2005 and worked for the next few years as a plant security specialist at the MillerCoors brewery in Elkton. Last year, Whitfield returned to the Elkton department as a patrolman because he missed investigating, he said. HPD's Lt. Kurt Boshart said Whitfield was a "good officer" with the city's force and looks forward to working with the chief in his new capacity. "We're excited for him to be chief of police," Boshart said. "It'll be a little different for us to call him Chief Whitfield." Whitfield was the lead investigator for HPD in the 2001 murder of Stephanie Sipe, a 20-year-old mother found dead in her apartment. The investigation spanned three years and crossed multiple state lines, Whitfield recalled, culminating with the conviction of Sipe's ex-boyfriend, Ivan Teleguz, and the men he hired to kill her. Teleguz received the death sentence in 2006 and is appealing. Michael Hetrick admitted to killing Sipe in 2006 and is serving two life terms. Edward Gilkes backed off the murder-for-hire plot at the last minute. He is serving out a 15-year sentence for accessory before the fact to first-degree murder. "We are speaking for the victim," Whitfield said in explaining the appeal of the often grim work of a police investigator. "That's how I look at it."Next entry: Chesterfield lieutenant selected as Farmville police chief
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