Chief James E. Day began his law enforcement career with the City of Roanoke Police Department in 1980. He served in patrol and in the vice and narcotics unit. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1985 and served for the next six years as a Patrol Sergeant. In 1991 he commanded the crime scene unit and was promoted in 1996 to Lieutenant commanding the Roanoke Police Academy. In 1998 he was promoted to Deputy Chief and served in both the Operations and the Services Divisions. He retired from the Roanoke Police Department in 2006 when he was hired as Chief of Police for the Bedford Police Department.

Chief Day is a graduate of Roanoke College with a B.A. in Business Economics. He is also a graduate of Hollins University with a Masters Degree in History. In 1999, he attended the 199th Session of the FBI National Academy at Quantico, VA and in 2003 graduated from the Senior Management Institute for Police sponsored by PERF at Harvard University.

Chief Day is chairman of the Central Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, Vice Chairman of the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy Executive Board and serves on the board of Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority.

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