Monday, January 30, 2017

Fisher to head DPS

Governor Phil Bryant issued the following press release:


Gov. Bryant Names Marshall Fisher as Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner


JACKSON—Governor Phil Bryant has named Marshall L. Fisher as Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (DPS). Fisher replaces Albert Santa Cruz, who is retiring on January 31, 2017, after 43 years of service to the state. Fisher will vacate his position as Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) Commissioner on the same date and assume his position at DPS on February 1, 2017. Fisher’s MDOC Chief of Staff, Pelicia Hall, will be acting Commissioner of MDOC until a permanent replacement for Fisher is named.

“Marshall has a long and distinguished career as a law enforcement officer, and I’m pleased that he has accepted the position to lead the Mississippi Department of Public Safety,” Gov. Bryant said. “His experience at the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Mississippi Department of Corrections will serve him well, and I know he will do an outstanding job leading the men and women who keep us safe each day.”

“Governor Bryant has honored me today with the opportunity to lead the state's top law enforcement agency,” Fisher said. “It is my intent to set a high bar for professionalism and transparency. The citizens of this great state support those who protect and serve. I will preserve their confidence.”

Most recently, Fisher has served as the Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner since January 2015. He also served as executive director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics from 2005-2014. Additionally, Fisher has served as state director for the Mississippi Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Throughout his career, he has coordinated joint operations involving DEA, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Mississippi Highway Patrol, and numerous other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

He is retired from the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he was assigned as Agent in Charge of Mississippi DEA operations. During his tenure with the DEA, Fisher was assigned to field offices in Texas, Kansas, Kentucky and DEA Headquarters, where he served as section chief in the Office of Domestic Operations to Europe, Asia, Africa and Canada.

Fisher started his career in law enforcement as a police officer in Texas and as a parole agent in Louisiana.

Kingfish note: TOLD YA!!!!!  

Get ready for the retirements. 

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

He will do a good job. Pretty solid hires as of late by Phil at DPS when you look at Homeland Security, MBN, Colonel of MHP and now Commissioner.

Anonymous said...

Another idiotic appointment by our illustrious guvnuh. Under Fisher's leadership, MBN staff languished under the authority of now fired/retired Mike Perkins, the infamous soul for whom all state employees can now thank for being made to take a sexual harassment training. Had Fisher handled business when he was director, maybe female agents who sexually assaulted farm machinery wouldn't still be holding positions of authority. Way to guvnuh.

Anonymous said...

Pretty easy for Phil to raise the bar since it has been rolling around on the ground the past several years...

Anonymous said...

Homeland Security, MBN both have new directors.

No complaints from in regards to Fisher.

He's not a bigot, he's all business, his moral compass is solid.

For once Feel got it right!

Anonymous said...

Fisher was a miserable failure at MDOC so at least he's out of the way there.

Anonymous said...

Why was Fisher a failure at MDOC?

Anonymous said...

@11:35

Perhaps 11:23 was a guest at one of MDOC's fine facilities. He probably didn't appreciate the fact that rules were enforced. He might have had his cell phone taken away and lost conjugal visit privileges.

Anonymous said...

I wonder who will replace Fisher at MDOC?

Anonymous said...

Fisher's just another product of the good ole boy system that shows it is still alive and thriving.

Anonymous said...

Amen 1:16.

While in charge of MBN a number of issues came up about his leadership. Some of which was reported right here on this site.

For some reason he has total control over Feel as who ever he wants to follow him is appointed by Feel. This is giving him complete control over state law enforcement and is very dangerous.

Anonymous said...

Fisher is a great appointment. Hate to lose his leadership at MDOC, and its going to be hard to find a good replacement for him there.

But with the mess SC has left at DPS, need someone with Fisher's abilities to straighten it out.

Anonymous said...

I doubt the person that stated Fisher did a bad job at MDOC knows what they are talking about.

I am a retired ADA. For years, there was a running feud between MPA and MDOC. It was one of the most inept and poorly run agencies in the universe. You couldn't get an accurate answer as to sentence predictions; requests for information on past convictions or actual time spent in custody were routinely ignored. Probation officers did shoddy work routinely.

Fisher had retired when Bryant asked him to take over at MDOC. He reportedly told Bryant that if his efforts were in any way thwarted, he would return to retirement and resume fishing!

Fisher acted immediately to mend fences with us [MPA] and took our complaints about the agency and cleaned much up. He attacked the lax attitudes of jailers and fired many for illegal conduct, selling alcohol, drugs, and cell phones to prisoners. He sought money for raises to be able to hire somewhat qualified guards.

He will do a good job at DPS in my opinion.

Anonymous said...

Will Fisher revoke conjugal visits at MHP too?

Anonymous said...

Me thinks this is going to be good, but me sees most of those ilegible to retire heading for the door whether they want to or not. He will only last a couple of years Feel's successor will dump him the first week.

Anonymous said...

Fisher is there to keep things from getting worse. But, don't expect things to get better.

Anonymous said...

Fisher said he'd be leading the States leading Law Enforcement agency, What a joke..Writing tickets and working the wrecks that the want too, only when they tell their Dispatchers their available..

Maybe he'll Crack down on those Wayside Resting Stops with Truckers. Lmao..

Brainwashed losers. . Get a real Law Enforcement job and stop wearing compression Class A shirts.

Anonymous said...

I occasionally post on various topics, stories and certainly have some diverse opinions regarding local, state and federal government. I'm retired and usually read Kingfish everyday. I have come up with a solution for all the problems facing the state of Mississippi. All the naysayers, gripes,i and "experts" who complain about everyone and everything need to ID themselves and choose which job or electedosition they would like to hold and we would soon have the most honest and efficient government in the USA.
I have never been an employee of any government agency

Anonymous said...

5:18, if you would only vote for honest people you wouldn't see so many naysayers, gripes, i and "experts" complaining. The problem is you are just like other people. You think the crooks you vote for are much more deserving of the job than an honest person.

Anonymous said...

For the naysayers, who would have been a better choice. Be specific

Anonymous said...

11:23 here:
What rules were enforced exactly? Inmates have free access to everything from cell phones to drugs. When problems were revealed he attempted to block access to the media.
He closed many of the work centers that allowed inmates to actually do something to pay back the taxpayers instead of sitting on their asses all day because he thought it would intimidate the legislature into increasing MDOC salaries when the local officials started raising hell. The Good Ol Boys called his bluff, and he went ahead and closed the work centers anyway.
He was a joke.

Anonymous said...

Settle down people! Deputy Phil has real law enforcement experience. He served under Andy and always received rave reviews (from himself).

Anonymous said...

Mr. Fisher is gonna be a hard act to follow. He took an agency that was led for over a decade by a corrupt politician and made unpopular changes that should have been made long ago. He made our prisons safer for staff. He gave a shit about his staff and worked to recruit and retain competent employees. He will do great at dps as well. And by the way, Epps ended the conjugal visits, not him. Stay up on ur facts before you attack @250

Anonymous said...


They may be draining the swamp in Washington..but it is just as deep and merky as every in MS! There are so many more qualified people to run DPS and Feel put a glorified secretary in charge of MDOC?

Anonymous said...

9:10' you missed the point of 2:50 conjugal visits.

2:50, good one. I like the way you think.

Fisher will NOT be a hard act to follow. However it would be great if the Gov selected a competent corrections professional this time.

Anonymous said...

8:00 he didn't just 'close the work centers' which you describe in an awfully one-sided description, he refused to continue using state dollars to pay the county sheriffs for their keeping these prisoners- as their personal work force. It was a profit center for counties, but costing the state out of its arse. He had the gonads to step up against the sheriffs and put a stop to this back-scratching program, that was awfully rift with other problems

Anonymous said...

Sounds like some of the people who were shifted around at headquarters are typing here on agency time. Epps had his untouchable favorites didn't he?

Anonymous said...

11:15 EXACTLY! The county jails were using these state inmates for FREE labor, and then expect mdoc to pay them??! That was a racket and a half!

Anonymous said...

People that post in these threads:
(1) Disgruntled current or former employees (or their attorneys, lobbyist, etc.) at the government agency that is the subject of the post that have an angle to play - often by posting half truths or outright lies;
(2) Content current or former employees at the government agency that is the subject of the post - often posting only favorable information to support the cause;
(3) Democrats (and Tate Reeves supporters) that oppose anything that Phil does;
(4) Republicans (and Tate Reeves supporters) that oppose anything that AG Hood does;
(5) People that suck at life and oppose everything anybody does; and
(6) (The smallest group) Rational, pragmatic people that are interested in what goes on in the state.

Anonymous said...

You left out 'Feel supporters who oppose anything Tate and Hood do' and minorities in Jackson who want another chance at running a big-budget agency.

Anonymous said...

Hey 11:15

The state only would pay 20 dollars a day per inmate to the county. Fisher himself stated it cost him over 45 a day to house an inmate. No matter how you look at it that is a savings of 25 a day to the state. Fisher got mad at some Sheriff's and wanted to show them that he was the boss. Well it is costing the state a lot of money.

As for inmates providing free labor maybe they should not break the law.

Anonymous said...

4:47 DPS is more than just the Highway Patrol. It is MBI, MBN, State Crime Lab and Medical Examiner and other lesser known agencies.

I'm sure Bryant was impressed by the job done at MDOC and knows that DPS needs some shaking up. I doubt Fisher stays more than three years before he returns to fishing...

Anonymous said...

Feel will be long gone in three years and Tater can put Amy Tuck in charge of DOC.

Anonymous said...

Fisher is a known quantity to the governor, and most anybody who's been in a leadership role in state government over the past several years. He's a serious guy who's run some very large and complex operations (look at his history with DEA) and not everybody will be pleased with some of the difficult decisions he will be faced with. DPS is a large agency with a diverse mission set and a budget north of $100 million; it deserves a leader who will be pragmatic in his approach to solving some of the very serious problems the agency has.....not some washed up fool who's trying to cling to his glory days as a trooper.

My hope is that the highway patrol will be put back in its place as a component of DPS, and other parts of the agency will get attention that's been long overdue .

Guess I am a #6 said...

10:38 - your math is good for third grade, but it doesn't make it when you get into high school and have to do some real accounting. The cost you quote as a cost per day for the state to maintain criminals includes a lot of what is defined as "fixed costs". When you get into high school look for a good teacher and he/she can try to help you with this concept.

Taking those criminals out of the state facilities and moving them to the county jails meant paying the counties $20/day, and having empty cell beds in the state facilities - but they still cost money.

Nice try, come back later and join in a discussion when you can add some information that is complete to the conversation.

And 8:56, if everybody has to fit into one of your categories, I am a #6. Not claiming any particular intelligence, but I don't fit into any of your other groupings. (Also don't fit into the one you left out but was pointed out by 10:19, Feel supporters. Since you left that one out, does that happen to fit you?)

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Albert E.SetSale Cruz will show Mr.Fisher how to structure the future no-bid emergency contracts with the Ridgeland boys.I would not feel safe on Ms.highways without their involvement during the holiday season.So many little tricks to pass on.

Anonymous said...

11:58 a.m.:Inquiring minds would like to know. Tell us who the 'Ridgeland Boys' are and their function.

PS: Thank you for staying til right about 12 noon to leave the building for lunch. That's unusual at DPS. Or were you already halfway through that bag of tacos?

Anonymous said...

I don't think you people who post here are ever happy about ANYTHING. What a sad, disgruntled group! Here's a tip for most of you: Life is short. Don't waste time complaining. Do what YOU can to make things better for your fellow man.



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