Chief Frank Nichols reflects on storied career with Starkville Police Department

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – After serving and protecting his hometown for nearly three decades, Starkville’s top cop is turning in his badge.

Chief Frank Nichols is set to retire at the end of the year.

Nichols said its been a great ride, and as he looks back on his career, it’s one he’s proud of.

He first joined the department in 1992 and has held every job on the force.

“I got hired here shortly after turning 23 years old,” said Nichols, who’s spent 27 years with the Starkville Police Department. “I turned 23 years old in October, and I got hired in December, so basically I grew up here at the Starkville Police Department. I basically turned into a man working here at the Starkville Police Department.

The same streets that Nichols grew up on would be the same streets he’d end up patrolling.

He said being from Starkville played a big factor in helping people develop their trust in him.

“It’s tough being a police officer in your hometown, but yet it’s fulfilling because there’s nothing like being able to help the people that you’ve known all of your life, or their parents, or their children,” Nichols described.

The chief calls it an honor to have worn his badge for 27 years.

He took pride in serving the city of Starkville with integrity and respect, which didn’t go unnoticed.

In 2014, Nichols became the first African-American to serve as the department’s chief of police.

“People would tell me, you’re going to be the chief of police one day and I would be like, nah man not me, and eventually I started to believe that,” the chief said. “I put myself in a position to receive it. What I mean by that is, I tried to keep my nose clean, I kept my record clean, I treated people right, I worked hard.”

Throughout his tenure, the chief has received several awards for his outstanding work.

However, the thing he’s most proud of is getting the new facility that the department is now housed in.

“25 years, three other chiefs tried this before me, and for whatever reason God decided to bless us with it during my tenure,”said Nichols. “That’s something that I will forever be grateful for and will forever remember.”

The veteran officer said what he’ll miss most about his job is the commendatory with the other officers and serving the city.

As this chapter of his life now comes to a close, the police chief said he’s at peace because he served the city the right way and gave everything he had.

“Just about everywhere I go people are going to stop me and tell me I did a good job when I was here,” said Nichols. “To me that’s a gratifying, I can’t ask for nothing else.”

The Starkville native plans to spend his free time traveling.

Along with being an officer, Nichols also spent more than a decade serving in the U.S. Navy and in the U.S. Army National Guard.

Captain Mark Ballard will now take over as the chief of police.

The change of command ceremony will take place on December 31st.