The Lowell Post of the Indiana State Police has a new commander.

Former First Sgt. Jerry Williams has been promoted to Lieutenant and has taken command at the Lowell Post.

Williams, an 18-year veteran of the ISP and a resident of Lake County, is a Gary native, graduated from the ISP Academy in December 1993, and was assigned to the Lowell Post with duties in Northern Lake County. He was later tasked to Problem Oriented Policing before joining the Northwest Indiana Gang Task Force.

In 2004 Williams was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the Fiscal and Research Division at ISP HQ in Indianapolis. He also worked with Human Resources and served as liaison between the ISP and the Indiana Department of Correction.

In 2008 Williams was promoted to First Sergeant and worked as Internal Investigation Coordinator in the Office of Professional Standards.

Williams is the first African-American Commander of the Lowell Post, which covers Porter, Lake, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Pulaski, and Starke counties.