Video: Veteran Columbus Police Officers Retiring

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Police Department is experiencing what some refer to as a badge drain.

A large number of police officers are retiring very soon. However, the department is not being understaffed.

Almost half a dozen uniformed cops are retiring, and they are veteran officers.

Those veterans hope the lessons they’ve taught young replacements, along with youthful energy, will help the department continue to grow and improve.

By the end of the month at least five seasoned police officers within the Columbus Police Department will have made retired.

Two of those five men are brothers, Lt. Carroll Culpepper and Sargent Glenn Culpepper. They have six decades of experience between the two of them.

“One hundred fifty years experience gone out the door in the first six months of this year and that knowledge is hard to recoup,” said Glenn Culpepper.

“Great guys. Integrity, character, can’t beat it,” said assistant police chief Joe L. Johnson.

As the men are about to turn in their badges, they are reflecting back on a rewarding and fulfilling career.

Carroll Culpepper, a long time investigator and administrator, and Glynn Culpepper, known for having spent at least 18 years as a K-9 handler.

“Apprehended a murderer, the murder that happened right behind the police department. We, me and my dog captured him about three minutes after the murder happened,” said Glynn Culpepper.

“I was a young officer. We had a mother who gave birth to a child. They left it in a plastic bag in a back yard. Temperature was 32 degrees that morning, that’s the only reason the child survived. Myself and another officer did CPR on that baby and we took it to the hospital. And the child survives today,” said Carroll Culppeper.

Although there is that drain of some veteran cops from the force, from what we understand, younger officers have already been mentored by their older counterparts.

“When you speak about experience level, then you know there is going to be a learning curve. But we’re going to handle it. We’ve made provisions and we have adjusted to that so we’re going to be okay,” said Johnson.

“A lot of it comes from just experience. You’ve just have got to have the experience when you come into a situation, the training kicks in,” said Glynn Culpepper.

There is expected to be an official ceremony later this month honoring those uniformed officers for their dedication to duty.