Washington Police Lieutenant Joe Nelson has been hired by the City of Thomson to be its next Chief of Police.

The Thomson city council voted unanimously last Thursday night to offer the position to the 18-year Washington police veteran, Nelson said, and he accepted the offer. He will start later this month.

Nelson, who has been Washington’s sole investigator for 10 years, was one of five top candidates from a field of 18 applicants to be interviewed by council members recently, the McDuffie Mirror reported. “We had five very good candidates,” Thomson City Administrator Don Powers said. “It was obvious from his interview that he was the top choice.”

Washington Police Chief Mike Davis is pleased at Nelson’s selection, he said, but “we’ll feel the loss of Joe Nelson for a long time. He’s a very smart guy, and knows everybody in the community. A lot of our success is due to his hard work, and we’ll miss him.”

Nelson was one of several Washington police officers who attained a Master’s in Criminal Justice in an intense one-year program brought to Washington by Troy University in 2007.

Nelson said that he and his family will move to Thomson as soon as school is out for the summer.