Retiring deputy looks forward to next chapter of service
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – After almost 27 years, a Lowndes County Deputy is putting up his badge, but he still plans to serve the community he now calls home.
It wasn’t the career path he started on, but Captain Chad Bell always knew he wanted to be involved in law enforcement.
He first got his chance with the Columbus Police Department in 1999. In 2003, he moved to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office. He’s been there ever since.
“My heart was always in it,” Bell said. “I started applying again, and I ended up in Columbus. It’s strange because I was in Baltimore. I worked for a company in Macon at the time. I met my wife, we moved to Baltimore, then I applied in Columbus and got the job.”
Bell said his wife brought him to Mississippi, and coming from Baltimore was a big adjustment.
“The dialect, the southern drawl, I couldn’t understand it,” Bell said. “People would say, ‘You’re not listening to what people are saying ’cause you’re asking them to repeat themselves,’ and I would be like, ‘I’m listening so hard I just can’t understand what they’re saying.'”
But Mississippi became home.
In more than two decades of law enforcement, Bell has seen a lot of changes, both in practice and in people.
“There was honor among thieves,” Bell said. “When you were chasing bad guys, they knew it was a game. If you caught them, you win, and there were no hard feelings. And if they got away with it, you went home and tried to do better. Now it seems like people go right to a gun, and before, it wasn’t like that. People valued their lives. Now it seems like everyone is so willing to pull a gun out and settle their differences like that instead of verbally or just walking away.”
He said the job comes with a heavy emotional toll, but there are aspects that make it all worth it.
“Its one of the things they don’t teach you in the academy, and they don’t teach you in law enforcement; you see a lot of horrific things, and you deal with a lot of horrific things, and no one ever really tells you how to manage it,” Bell said. “You just got to do it….Every time I’ve arrested somebody or helped somebody in a moment of need, it made me feel like my job matters. Every time I locked up someone who was breaking the law, I felt like I was making a difference. And helping someone on the side of the road or helping find a lost child or something like that, you feel like you make a difference.”
He also said to not take anything personally when it comes to arrests.
“If you go home at the end of the night upset because someone got away, it will eat you up because there are a bunch of people that are going to get away,” Bell said. “The most important part is treat everybody like a person, even the people you have to lock up. They are people. Treat them with respect, and if you treat them with respect, it goes a long way for people in the streets because people will respect you.”
Bell also serves as the Assistant Coordinator of Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers. Over the past decade, he’s seen how this tool has benefited the community.
“Knowing there is that outlet, cause people are worried about retribution,” Bell said. “I can assure anyone who calls Crime Stoppers that we have no clue who you are, and we don’t want to know. It’s great for the public. A lot of people say, I don’t want the money, I just want the problem fixed in my neighborhood. So, it’s been great. It’s really a great program.”
After retirement, he will continue his work with Crime Stoppers. He will be serving as a private citizen with the organization, and still helping catch criminals.
“He’ll be able to play a more critical role in the Crime Stoppers organization,” said Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins.
Lowndes County Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said he relies heavily on the call takers for Crime Stoppers, such as Captain Bell, for getting the information and relaying it to the right entities, so they can run down leads, make arrests, and solve crimes.
“Its making a positive difference in our communities,” Hawkins said. “It’s making our communities safer.”
Sheriff Hawkins said he has worked with Captain Bell for the majority of his time in law enforcement, and they have learned a lot working together.
“We learn things together every day,” Hawkins said. “Replacing a person like that is hard. He is going to be missed. It’s hard to replace good, qualified people who care about the public, who care about the community; those types of people are really hard to replace. He is going to be sorely missed. But I think that he is going to play another role in helping our community, and I look forward to continuing to work with him throughout our careers.”
Bell said his advice for anyone getting into law enforcement is to be patient and learn something new every day.
“If you’re not learning something every day, you’re getting behind,” Bell said. “Its been a great journey. Its the front row seat to real life. It’s a great, very rewarding profession, and I’m so grateful that I’ve spent my almost 27 years doing this job healthy. Every day, waking up with this job, I was excited to come in. I’ve been truly blessed to be at this department. It’s a family. Going is going to be bittersweet, but when it’s time to go, its time to go.”
Crime Stoppers is looking for more citizens to be on the board. For more information, you can reach out to the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office at (662) 328-6788.
Bell’s last day on the job will be February 13, and his official last day will be March 18.
He said he has lots of fun plans for retirement – traveling, spending time with family and friends, and visiting as many Robert Trent Jones Golf Trails as he can.
