A city without a chief, and not much remaining of a force
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The City of Winona has found themselves in a unique position. The candidate who they offered the police chief position to turned it down, and they may not have many officers left to protect and serve the residents.
The Winona Police Department protects and serves over 4500 residents in the city of Winona, but while the number of people continues to grow, its police force is shrinking.
In March, police chief Roshaun Daniels resigned, and since then, B.J. Edwards has stepped in as interim Chief.
But at a recent board meeting, the city called to give the top cop position to an area officer outside of the force, a decision that many residents disagreed with, including Mayor Jerey Flowers.
“I echo the same thing that the citizens of Winona felt. Didn’t understand it, still don’t to this day. I feel that he was qualified and should have been appointed,” Flowers said.
The picked candidate, Ronald Militana, declined the offer as chief, and Edwards submitted his resignation. And as one letter of resignation came in, several others followed, dwindling the forces’ numbers.
“We had 12 at one time. I know that we had two have turned in their resignations, and my understanding is that we’ll lose two to three more. If not more than that,” Flowers said. “I’ve talked with the sheriff yesterday, and we will work something out between the city and the county to make sure we at least have some patrols going on. It’s going to come down to how many people we have left.”
Mayor Flowers says he is continuing to work and stay accountable to the promises he made to Winonians.
“It should not have come to this, but it has. And I will make sure the citizens of Winona are taken care of,” Flowers said.
Edwards will remain in the position until June 2.
