Former Fox 45 reporter Joy Lepola-Stewart has been named the new director of public affairs for the Baltimore County Police Department.
Lepola-Stewart announced her departure from Fox 45 after 17 years earlier this month after serving as the station’s lead investigative reporter.
Lepola-Stewart is replacing Sgt. Vickie Warehime, who retired earlier this month. Her salary will be $115,000, according to a county spokesperson.
Lepola-Stewart did not respond Monday to phone calls and an email.
In a release sent late Monday afternoon, the police department said Lepola-Stewart comes to the department “with an extensive background in local journalism, and a long and honorable family history in the law enforcement profession.”
Lepola-Stewart has received nine regional Emmy Awards, and in 2016 and 2017 she also was a regional Edward R. Murrow winner. In 2018, she won a regional Emmy Award for a series focused on the use of taxpayer dollars to install potentially faulty roadway equipment, according to her bio on the station’s website.
Baltimore Sun reporter McKenna Oxenden contributed to this article.