Columbus City Leaders express their concerns and goals for a new police chief

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The future of the Columbus Police Department is once again up in the air.

For nearly 20 years, the chief’s job has rotated among veteran law enforcement officers

Chief Fred Shelton is the sixth person to hold the job full-time since 2003.

“We are trying to do the best we can do for the citizens of the city and I feel like we’ve made the right move,” said Gaskin.

Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin is making moves.

But some Columbus citizens are questioning what the future holds for the Columbus Police Department.

And who will be in charge?

Immediately following the meeting, Mayor Gaskin told WCBI that the search for a new Chief will happen very soon.

“We will immediately begin a search for a new chief of police and we will be putting together a committee to help us in the process the citizens today have asked if citizens will be in the search committee and there have been citizens in the past and I think its good to have a broad scope of people looking,” said Gaskin.

Gaskin adds he and the council also plan to address issues that need to be resolved within the department, such as pay and equipment.

“We will do the research on exactly how many officers we need in the city of Columbus and we are working on our budget right now for next year and we are looking to see how we can potentially find the resources to raise the salaries and it’s not easy and a lot of these things you can’t change overnight,” said Gaskin.

Councilman Joseph Mickens didn’t want to speak on camera, but he said for the record, that he and the council stand 100% behind the Mayor.

But one council member said – not so fast.

“I can’t speak for everybody else but I feel like I was blindsided and just like the community found out and like everybody finds out I find out the same way and i feel like it was premeditated,” said Beard.

Councilman Pierre beard says for now Fred Shelton is still the one in charge.

“We technically still have a chief until the 15th of august and he should be able to still perform his duties to the best of his ability and we will help him continue to perform his abilities,” said Beard.

The mayor and City Council plan to have a meeting about a new chief search on July 19th.