Changing CPD’s Image

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – 2017 was nothing short of controversial for the Columbus Police Department.

From a shortage of police officers, to hiring a consultant, and an officer involved shooting; CPD has had its share of criticism.

Now a new chief is planning on tackling the departments image.

“I have an image in mind, the image that I want is a department of integrity. We are going to have high moral standards,” says Shelton.

Fred Shelton says he wants to improve how the residents of Columbus view the police department, but in order to do that, he’s got two things to tackle first.

“Two things I am going to work on is an aggressive recruiting program. We already have some things good and in place like the career fair program and we will utilize that again and once we get our numbers up we are going to try and retain those officers, and train them and put them in various positions so that they can be more effective for this department,” says Shelton.

Chief Shelton says attracting the best officers is key. He says from now on the city will look at applicants who not only want to protect and serve, but who also want to be a part of the community.

“We start by making sure we hire the most qualified officers that we can. We train the officers that we have to a higher standard. We take our supervisors, we start making them more accountable. We interact with the community more and we develop a proactive community policing program,” says Shelton.

The new chief believes that the police are the people, and the people are the police. The only difference is for him it’s a full time job, with a badge.

“I’ve always said, if I were chief I would do this, or if I were chief, I would do that, so now I’m chief and now I can do the things that I know will make a difference in this department,” says Shelton.

Chief Shelton says the department is getting ready to hire more officers, as 18 recruits just graduated from the police academy.