The North Carolina Highway Patrol has sworn in a new commanding officer. Colonel Freddy L. Johnson Jr. has been named the 28th commander of the S.H.P. He is a Cumberland County native and has been in public safety work all his life. After graduating from South View High School in 1989, Johnson was hired as a full-time firefighter and since 1996 has served as deputy chief of the Stoney Point Fire Department. Colonel Johnson attended Fayetteville State University and earned a criminal justice degree. He joined the North Carolina Highway Patrol as a State Trooper in 1995 and was assigned to Robeson County while maintaining his volunteer firefighter responsibilities. Johnson’s promotion ceremony on June 4 included remarks from Governor Roy Cooper, and N.C. Public Safety Secretary Erik Hooks.

Pictured Above : Col. Freddy L. Johnson Jr.