Jackson Jambalaya

Thankless job for no money...and you could get shot at, called a racist and generally treated like you are always in the wrong. NO THANKS

No wonder they get the employees they get. I remember when good people wanted those jobs because they were good jobs. A career you could be proud of ....

Madison PD kicks ass. Best damn ZIP code in Mississippi! Wealth and affluence lives here!!

The problem may be that people are scared of the job. There is the fear that the deputy sheriffs will beat you up like 6 of them did several years ago. There is also that fear you may get beat up on a reservoir beach as happened recently. And never fail to recognize a steroid raged man who will try to beat his wife to death might be out there.

This is a mayor issue. He inserts himself into everything.
Thats why there is a revolving door of officers, chiefs, dispatchers and other jobs within the city.
Citizens that know how he is call him the CEO because it seems thats what he thinks he is, the CEO of Brandon. Narcissism isn't the best match for Mayoring.
Still better than a across the river.

At the FBI standard Pearl seems understaffed too? What’s the story there?

Florence has that many police. If you count all of the people driving around in private cars watching for people out of state they have a lot more. Florence was once a speed trap but they cannot use their radar guns on 49 anymore so they are now the swerving capital of Ms.

Being a cop has become a lot like being a teacher. You start by wanting to make the world a better place. That lasts a year or two. Then you either figure out how to get a job on the administrative side or you leave altogether. It takes a special person to stick with it. Special, as in a martyr or glutton for punishment.

As long as the one of two Waffle Houses are down due to remodeling, the criminal element of Brandon is cut in half. As long as Pearl and Flowood PD do their jobs we are well isolated from the criminal elements of Jackson. Other than barking dogs and loud ass no muffler pickup trucks (that just so happen to be exempt from the noise ordinance) I'd say we're in pretty good shape law enforcement wise.

All fingers point at Butch!!

@10:40 - they make good money especially for the lack of any education. Getting called a name whether it be racist or anything else is something every person must face. Police are clearly allowed to talk back and say whatever they would like to anyone with no fear of accountability. The beauty of being an officer is that you make up the law as you see fit so the law is always on their side. It’s also far less dangerous than people claim. Statistically, the biggest threat to their health is a car accident, not getting shot. If they do not feel safe, they are allowed to spray bullets until they do feel safe. I’d say the biggest challenge in hiring officers for Brandon is finding enough officers who still believe in lynching blacks. That’s a tough ask in 2023, even for rankin county.

In my experience, dealing with law enforcement within the tri-county area, it seems that the agencies in Madison County tend to display a more professional and courteous attitude, Hinds County seems to be under-educated and good ole Rankin County has that "Cowboy Bob" way of thinking.

Dearman didn't do anything to improve the situation & was apparently in over his head, but make no mistake, this has been an ongoing issue for awhile now. For several years now, the PD & FD in Brandon have been a revolving door. Not only is the city losing patrol officers, they seem to only be replacing them with new, young, right out of MLEOTA officers with no experience. Every month at the city board meetings new patrol officers & firemen are being introduced. No unusual to see 3-5 new officers in a month. First responders in Brandon have not been a priority to the mayor or board in quite some time.

Ridgeland PD is by far at the top for LEO. Madison PD is run by guess who & used for many Non-LEO duties.

@11:50 I've always found Madison PD to be professional and courteous. They take crime very seriously, which is a good thing in my opinion.

To all of you on a police force or thinking about it:

Cover up your damn tatoos. We're not impressed you spent a fortune making yourself look like a carnival worker.

Get a f--g haircut and shave. You want respect? Advertise for respect!

Even one police officer is one too many

Anyone choosing to risk being Derek Chauvin'd for $40k a year is on their own.

Muni politics completely aside.

Save Brndn

@12:10 PM - I agree. It seems that many officers try to copy what they see on "On Patrol Live," "Cops," and the former "Live PD," both in appearance and procedures.

Typo police is on duty.

"The Board of Ealdormen boosted starting pay to $38,000 per year..."

Aldermen?

Thank you @12:10

Also Brandon needs to hire a Chief who has experience in being a law enforcement officer (not a glorified ticket writer or yes person) then let him or her run the department!

Way to much nepotism going on in Rankin County.

Thankful to live in a North Mississippi county where law enforcement is paid well and well staffed. Desoto County departments (Olive Branch, Horn Lake, Southaven, etc) all start near $60k with NO experience and top out at almost $70k for just patrolmen. I think Oxford PD is the same way.

Sounds like the metro area is really lagging behind.

New Chief has implemented a policy that supervisors will not cuss out subordinates. Now why would he have to do that?

@1:40 Are you sure about that? I know Cox, Pullen & Moore definitely don't start their officers out near that much with "NO" experience. And yes I'm in law enforcement with experience.

"The Board of Ealdormen boosted starting pay to $38,000 per year..."

Aldermen?
November 22, 2023 at 12:44 PM

The problem with Mississippians using 'Voice-to-text', is that the AI has its limits. Northern Madison County, I know from experience, has some bizarre Late-Middle-Ages English - the kind which would have been originally spoken by persons in places where English had been recently imposed upon a populace - a populace who were subsequently seized (as happened in Scotland), thrown onto ships, and sold as white slaves, on the auction blocks of Charleston.

Rankin County, and Northern Madison County, were largely populated by escaped slaves and their descendants.

How does Flowood rank in numbers per number of people in the city at any given time? Also, how does it rank in salary range?

Canton has about 9-10 cops for the street. 1 so called detective and short on dispatchers. Been hereing that some folks want the sheriff to take over.

Chauvin is a convicted felon, he and the Rankin Goons are of the same ilk, and they will enjoy the same fate .

This all goes back to Clown Butch, who’s prioritized having a field of American Flags and other religious and patriotic symbolism take priority over any ACTUAL impact to the city.

I have heard he also wants to make the FD all-volunteer.

That guy…

3:49 no one takes the old coots at the McD coffee club.

That whole town has been built on nepotism. PD, FD, everything.

Years ago I went to do a fitness test for the FD. Completed the required physical tests and completed them with ease. I topped out the written exam. I had experience as a firefighter and was an EMT. This should have been a simple transfer.

After all of this I was told by the chief that the aldermen had promised firefighter jobs to “people that they knew” and that I would not be getting hired.

Brandon is cronyism at its worst.

What a joke.

Finish the job and put Pack out.

Attn 2;16 pm. Did you just invent a new word “HEREING”? Any chance you are a product of the Madison county school system?

Unfortunately these jobs don’t pay enough to attract a qualified worker. In addition, a very high percentage of officers would not qualify for very many other jobs. The question is whether having these people riding around in Chevy Tahoes seeking to violate the 4th amendment rights of fellow citizens is the best use of that segment of the workforce. Arguably, society would be better off if we got them some plastic bags and grabbers and utilized them to clean up some of the litter around town.

"Ealdormen" is very old English from the Anglo-Saxon folks.

Last week I couldn't even spell "Ealdormen;" today I are one.

"Ealdormen" = click bait, and it worked.

Where do you think Aldermen came from?

And yet the mayor just got a raise which bumped his pay up $30,000 since he became mayor!

@1:49 - Go check out their latest recruiting fliers.
Pre-Academy (No Experience)
Southaven PD - $59,257
Horn Lake PD - $59,396
Olive Branch PD - $56,328
Oxford PD - $51,001

Factor in some OT and these guys and gals are making mid-$60s easy.

The issue with law enforcement in Mississippi is that the bar is set so low for candidates. Other states have higher requirements and more stringent testing and screening.

Here, especially in central Mississippi, if you take a guy who is stacking cans at Piggly Wiggily and give him 29k and a gun, you have just exceeded any career expectations he’s ever had.

"Where do you think Aldermen came from?"

Dimwitted country boys of lesser pulchritude whose fathers paid for a cherry-bustin' at a cut-rate cathouse...but forgot to tell them to, er, suit up. Well, that, or they couldn't on cleaning the crappers at the local five-and-dime. You know, standard route to political fame and fortune.

Sparta, Mississippi police has 15 officers and can solve a murder in one hour.

"Sparta, Mississippi police has 15 officers and can solve a murder in one hour."

Every town in Mississippi is ass-deep in Archie Bunkers but any of them being able to hire Mr. Tibbs away from CSI:BigCity is the real hitch in the getalong. Brandon should get a few Ferraris and Hummers as cop cars and hire Abuncha Fattabacka to style 'em up some uniforms. Maybe hire Jan Hammer to compose a new siren riff - maybe a "Dueling Banjos-meets-Sir-Mix-a-lot" vibe.

$40k per year to get shot at and be called a racist for doing your job? No thanks. I can greet folks at Walmart for that much these days.

Rankin County and its assorted municipalities are totally killing it.

Take heart, Flowood more than makes up for any shortages in surrounding towns. Nevermind a little thing like jurisdiction, they’ll be raring to get you as soon as you put one foot inside any given Flowood City Limit sign.

@5:34 AM
It’s a bit of a gray area for those of us living on 471 near 25. We have Brandon addresses but Flowood PD is highly visible with their patrols. What disturbs me is that I heard machine gun fire last week from the direction of Horse track on Oakdale Rd. Someone must’ve got themselves a new toy from Jackson.

Flowood and Pearl are the worst. They won’t enforce handicapped parking violations or be of use in any other situation. But, they are fantastic at sitting at the end of Cooper Road and giving out chickenshit tickets for going 36 in a 30.

According to current admin in Brandon, 27 have left since October. Anyone wonder why, other than just pointing a finger at someone who is unable to defend himself? When the former chief arrived, they had less than 10 officers. Where’s the uproar about what he took over?

He hired 30 or 40 people and MANY left because other departments in the area paid much more than Brandon pays. The starting pay was actually LOWER than the current $38k/$41k. Who got it to the current level? We all know who, and so does city admin. And then in the former chief’s budget, he asked for another increase for officers. That rate increase request was flatly declined.

The city of Brandon now has multiple staffers making $110k or more, which is fine with admin because that also meant the mayor received a raise recently to $115k. None of them are risking being shot at at, but they do control the pay schedule for Brandon officers. The city can put in someone who’s willing to think for himself or put in a “yes man” to the mayor, and not much will change. The real issue is the mayor has very poor personnel (HR) skills (ask ANYONE at the city), and continues to believe it’s ok to have police and fire salaries at the lowest in the metro area. Brandon officers should start in the $47k range, minimum. But it’s not important to city admin.

The mayor does and says whatever he wants, and there’s no one who will fact check him or hold him accountable. His main priorities are his own salary, magic of lights, and the amphitheater and quarry. When magic of lights is going on, everything in the mayor’s office stops. He’s at the lights 12 or more hours per day, for a cool light show that brings attention to the city, but everyone knows the city makes next to nothing in it.

The problems with police are not the chief, not matter who the chief is. Brandon has the full power to improve police and fire and it starts with compensation. The next thing they can do is allow a chief to be the chief. As it is now, the mayor is the chief.

Amphitheaters are expensive

Attn 2:15pm. From what I’ve heard, Flowood pd pays better than most around the area but treats their employees like crap.

Rankin county has way too many bureaucrats sitting around on the taxpayer teet. Gimme gimme gimme. How about all the Brandon PD and Rankin county Sheriff’s office put in a full day of work instead of complaining all the time, and then we can talk about getting a raise. Time to drain the swamp Rankin county style.

If it wasn’t for the federal guideline, the number of officers would be sufficient for the population. Everyone knows there is no crime in Rankin except for the bad apples that visit.