West Point Police Department welcomes in new Chief
WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – West Point’s new Police Chief is officially taking over the department.
Michael Edwards was officially sworn in as the city’s top cop on Friday, September 19.
Edwards had served as Assistant Chief and was appointed to the top job last month when former Chief Avery Cook retired.
He wants to expand the department’s community policing efforts, including a division dedicated to that work.
First, he has to add to the department’s roster a job that has proven difficult in recent years, with recruitment numbers being down and veteran officers leaving for other departments or other career fields.
Chief Edwards wants to build his staff up, but not at the expense of neighboring agencies.
“But the ones that are still with law enforcement, these are the ones you want to try to retain, and the ones you want to keep. And, it doesn’t help if you’ve got other agencies and departments taking from your department. And, I think I have set the standard, and with our officers that we want to recruit, but we don’t want to recruit from other departments, because we’re all facing the same challenges, and that’s to keep officers,” said Edwards.
Edwards is a West Point native who began his career with the West Point PD and has also served with the Starkville Police Department.
