Harriot College Alumni Profile: William Stokes
ECU “40 Under Forty” Leadership Recipient
William Stokes, Criminal Justice alumnus (BS, ‘05) who lives in Greenville, NC, is one of ECU’s 2022 “40 Under Forty” Leadership Awardees.
“I feel excited and honored to be receiving this award,” he said. “I am excited to be recognized among my peers as a leader in my profession. I am honored for being nominated and held in such high esteem in my community.”
Stokes’s #HarriotCollegeMajor is helping him #MakeADifference as a patrol sergeant for the Greenville Police Department, where he serves the citizens by supervising and guiding police officers in the performance of their duties. Stokes assists with shift briefings, training, and performance evaluations. He works to ensure accuracy in citations, reports, and patrol-level investigations, and he serves as a liaison between the citizens, patrol officers, and command staff.
“I enjoy being in a position where I can help members of my community in their times of need,” he said.
Stokes has been with the department for more than 15 years and has worked on patrol, as a detective in the special victim’s unit, and as a forensic detective.
“Growing into a leader while serving the community continues to provide new challenges and abilities to learn about the citizens we serve, and myself,” Stokes said. “I am humbled to be a leader in my profession and thrilled to help build and shape new careers in the field.”
During his time as a student, Stokes said ECU prepared him to be open to other people’s perspectives and how to apply criminal justice theory to real-world situations.
“Without ECU, I would not have grown to be a proud servant of the community that I am today,” he said.
Stokes shared a little-known fact that in high school he was very physically competitive. He did five years of varsity track (one as a middle school student), two years of varsity wrestling, and was on the NJROTC athletic and orienteering team.