Phyllis Knight Coates grew up in Chatham and graduated from Horton High School in 1970. In August of 1982, Phyllis, the daughter of Lonnie Knight, Sr. and Patience Taylor Knight, became the first female deputy hired by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department. She had previously been the first black female on the Pittsboro Police Department, Chapel Hill Police Department, Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and the Carrboro Police Department.

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