WESTOVER – Westover Deputy Police Chief Scott Carl got a promotion on Monday.
Westover City Council voted unanimously to name Carl the city’s next chief of police.
Carl has been with the department since May of 2021, when outgoing Chief Joe Adams brought him on as second in command to help lead the reclamation of what city leaders admit was a troubled department.
Adams announced his retirement, effective Tuesday, at council’s Oct. 21 meeting, at which time he recommended Carl as his successor.
“I really appreciate the opportunity the council has given me to continue what Chief Adams and I started when he became chief five years ago and I came on four and a half years ago,” Carl said. “We’re just going to continue down the road we started and keep things going the right way – the way they are now. Our goal is to make Westover the best department around. That’s all we want to do.”
Carl began his law enforcement career at 19 as a boarding officer in the United States Coast Guard.
Following active duty, he returned to college and soon started a 26-year career with the Morgantown Police Department. He retired from the MPD as a lieutenant in 2020 before answering Adams’ call in 2021.
“People know some of the trouble they had here and we’ve done everything we can to straighten things out and make it a good department that everybody can be proud of. The men that are still here, they’ve done a lot of work,” Carl said. “We’ve got really good, positive momentum going and I just want to keep doing it. We’re trying to do things right. We’ve got a lot of good men and women here, and they just want to keep doing things the right way.”
Mayor Bob Lucci, who spent more than three decades in law enforcement and retired as Morgantown’s police chief, said council’s decision was not difficult.
“It was the easiest thing to do, and the most logical, to be quite honest. He knows the department. He does very well with the administration part and he knows civil service very well. To me, those are no brainers when you have someone like that and you don’t have to look beyond your own doors. It was an easy choice,” Lucci said. “Scott’s done a good job for us. He has all the credentials to make a good chief.”
Carl said no decisions have been made in regard to filling the deputy chief role.
