A Wake County police chief has answered a call for service in Elon that won’t require him to pull out his handcuffs, his citation book, or even his badge.
In fact, Pete Acosta, who has served as Morrisville’s chief of police for more than six years, will be acting in an purely civilian capacity as he embarks on this new assignment as a member of Elon’s municipal planning board.
A 29-year veteran of the law enforcement profession, Acosta received a formal nod to serve on this appointed advisory board when Elon’s town council held its latest regularly-scheduled meeting last Monday.
The council bestowed this post on Acosta due, in part, to his residency within Elon’s municipal limits. Although Acosta has been at his current in-town address for less than two years, he also has a longstanding connection to Alamance County that may have given him an added leg up with Elon’s municipal leaders.
Before he took over Morrisville’s police force in 2018, Acosta had spent his entire law enforcement career within a few minutes’ drive of Elon. The future police chief first cut his teeth as a patrol officer in the town of Haw River. He then spent 20 years with the municipal police department in Graham, where he attained the rank of lieutenant before he departed for Morrisville in 2018.
Acosta, who was on hand to accept the council’s appointment last Monday, acknowledged that he only has a few months to go before he retires as Morrisville’s police chief. In the meantime, he told the council that he looks forward to immersing himself in his new role on the town’s planning board, which doubles as Elon’s board of adjustment.
“And I certainly appreciate the opportunity to serve in the community where I live,” the newly-appointed planning board member went on to assert.
