NEMCC Police Chief oversees upgrades during his first year on the job

Campus police also have access to counselors to help with mental health calls

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – The campus police department at Northeast Mississippi Community College has more resources to protect and serve.

One of the main goals Chief Anthony Anderson had when he took the job one year ago was to upgrade the tools and resources for his officers.

” We’ve upgraded our lighting system, working with the administration, come back and they upgraded our police fleet, been able to get body cameras for our full-time officers, through a grant, we got body armor for all our full-time employees,” Chief Anderson said.

The department has also been able to send some officers for specialized training.  Those officers can certify other officers in the use of tasers.

Officer Jason Jackson went through active shooter training.  He is an instructor and can train police and the public on how to respond in an active shooter event.

“Our goal is to get educators, teachers, business owners, faculty, staff, and administrators to have that set in their mind, that these are some of the things you could expect and then that will put their mind in a different place if one of those events did happen,” Officer Jackson said.

Calls involving people with possible mental health issues can be tricky for police to handle. But NEMCC Campus Police also have a resource to deal with those calls.

“We are fortunate here to have three full-time counselors on site that are able to help us if we have any type of mental evaluation,” Chief Anderson said.

NEMCC President Dr. Ricky Ford says it’s all about having a safe campus for faculty, staff, and students.

“The safety and security of our campus are of utmost importance and we have the greatest police force in the world to make sure that happens,” Dr. Ford said.

There are seventeen full and part-time officers at NEMCC’s main campus.

Chief Anderson has been with the NEMCC police for eight years,  he served as assistant chief for three years before becoming chief last year.