Columbus-Lowndes Narcotics Task Force Becomes Official

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Lowndes Narcotics Task Force becomes official.

Attorney General Jim Hood’s office signed off on the agreement between the Columbus Police Department and Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday.

The two agencies will each have law enforcement officers on the task force.

Now, the commander will interview CPD officers who want to be a part of the narcotics enforcement team.

Two policemen will be selected.

Mayor Robert Smith released the following statement:

“As elected officials, public safety is the most important responsibility we have to our citizens. We take this trust with the highest degree of attention in the decisions we make each day. There is no higher degree of trust than to be charged with protecting the public.

Several months ago, the city began working with members of the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office to restart a combined drug task force of the city and the county. We had a combined force years ago until the former police chief discontinued the team.

After meeting with the Sheriff and members of his staff, I was able to negotiate a new detailed agreement that was approved by the sheriff, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and the Columbus City Council last week.

The last step in the process is approval from the Mississippi General and we now have received that approval with no changes needed in the agreement.

I want to first thank the fine men and women of the Columbus Police Department and the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office for their work and dedication. I also want to thank Sheriff Arledge and the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors for taking this bold step with us to restart this team.

We have already started working with the Task Force team to get our members from the Columbus Police Department selected and in place.

This is a new day in public safety for Columbus and Lowndes County and we look forward to this work together.”