The Charleston Board of Commissioners voted May 4 to name interim Police Chief Jerry “Bubba” Williams II the chief of the Charleston Police Department.
Williams, 43, was appointed interim chief at a Jan. 19 meeting of the city board. He had applied for the position after former chief Justin Gammage left in 2020.
Williams now officially follows in the footsteps of his late father, Jerry Wayne Williams. Starting in the early 1980s, the elder Williams put in some 22 years with the Charleston police force, including almost 14 years as chief before stepping down over health concerns.
After the younger Williams joined the Charleston PD in 2003, he and his father actually worked together for a couple of years. That was after the elder Williams had left the chief’s post and sat out of law enforcement for a while due to health, then returned to be an humble patrolman — something he and his son had in common at the time.
Williams died in 2009. He was 61.
The younger Williams remained, putting in 14½ years with the force before leaving to serve one term as elected constable for Tallahatchie County’s District 1. He served as a school resource officer in the East Tallahatchie School District and as a deputy for the Tallahatchie County Sheriff’s Office.
A native of Charleston, as was his father, Williams has been a certified lawman for about 18 years.
