Local law enforcement assist Brooksville police with shooting investigation

Only 10 police officers make up the Brooksville Police Department.

BROOKSVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – For smaller law enforcement agencies like Brooksville, major crime cases can be difficult with limited resources which is why neighboring departments are assisting.

Only 10 police officers make up the Brooksville Police Department.

Some shifts may only have one officer on duty.

That’s why Police Chief Johnny Burchfield said his department is seeking help outside of its jurisdiction.

“It’s hard to get full-time officers to stick where they are not being paid effectively, so that is one of the things we are running into as a small department and a small town we are having trouble keeping officers simply because of the pay,” Burchfield said.

Only one officer was on duty during the incident.

Burchfield said the limited personnel is not desirable because is not the officer’s safety or ability to handle multiple tasks on shift.

“There can be so many things going on at one time. You need multiple officers on at one time, especially in an incident like this you need at least 2 to 3 officers on, and that’s really my goal to get two to three officers on so we can prevent some of this stuff from happening,” Burchfield said.

Macon Police Assistant Chief Eddie Hills said their department will be assisting Brooksville Police to solve the shooting case.

“It’s very important because we are both short on officers and coming together will help us out a lot,” Hill said.

Burchfield said while they are a smaller department, they are committed to keeping their citizens safe.

“We don’t expect for things like this to happen but crime happens everywhere. You know this is a small town but we want to be prepared for it. It can have the people in an uproar, they can feel specific ways about certain things you know but we are definitely working. I want them to rest assured that we are working and we are going to find them and we will put them in prison,” Burchfield said.

Both departments encouraged anyone who knows any information to call the Brooksville or Macon police departments.

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