Mount Rainier went local with its new police chief, hiring interim Chief Linwood Alston for the role, city officials announced March 31. Alston’s permanent appointment fills a vacancy left by the departure of former city top cop Anthony Morgan, who resigned in February to take a new job as the chief of police for Humboldt State University in California.
Alston came to the city’s police department in 2019 when he was hired on as a lieutenant colonel on Morgan’s command staff. Prior to that, he worked for eight years as a police officer with the Capitol Heights Police Department, eventually rising to the position of deputy chief of police.
In a Sept. 2019 interview with Mount Rainier Television, Alston said he ran a private business for 19 years before deciding to become a police officer in 2011.
“I was pretty happy at Capitol Heights. But I had been here in Mount Rainier, assisting the new chief [Morgan] with assessments and professional evaluations of his employees. I quickly noticed he had a great group of people here, and I wanted to be a part of that as well,” said Alston in an interview.
In that same interview, Alsont said he wanted to bring to Mount Rainier’s police department “a sense of transparency.”
In a statement announcing his promotion to permanent chief of police, Alston said he was humbled and excited to lead the department.
“We will work daily to earn the trust and confidence of the community,” said Alston. “I will continue a ‘hands-on’ approach, being accessible to our community.”