After serving the past 24 years as the Wallingford Police Chief, Mr. William Wright announced last April that he would be retiring from his position to join Choate as the new Director of Operations.
Mr. Wright first joined the Wallingford Police Department in 1995, citing hopes to have a tangible effect on his community. In those two decades he was impressed with the dedication and efficiency of the department. “The rules and policies were very clear and consistent,” he said. “As a young police officer, I was never left in any doubt about what I should be doing, what direction the agency was heading, and what our role in the community was.”
Reflecting on his decades of service with the department, Mr. Wright especially emphasized the Police Department’s collaborative bond between the people of Wallingford and the Choate community on various occasions upon request for police support from the School. “I’m hopeful that when people reflect on my time as the Chief, they find that I operate in the same way; that I wanted our agency to be fully embedded in the community as a partner with everything going on,” he said.
One pivotal experience during his law enforcement career was the two years during which he worked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was assigned as an agent in August of 2001, just one month before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Mr. Wright noted that his work during that time gave him clarity on his career choices, “I think it was a defining moment in my career and made me realize that I had chosen the correct career, that I had chosen it for the right reasons, and that Police Departments are meant to serve communities.”
At Choate, Mr. Wright serves as the Director of Operations, a critical role that oversees community safety and risk management for the School. His recent work included supervising the repaving and reorganizing of roads on campus. Mr. Wright said of the interview process: “I went through several interviews and when I was offered the position after a comprehensive background investigation was completed by Choate – that’s what caused me to retire from the Police Department.”
He continued, “If it wasn’t for this opportunity here at Choate, I probably would still be there.” Mr. Wright further stated that he is excited to serve and protect the Choate Community in his new position.
