Tupelo mayor chooses FBI agent to become new police chief

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A first-term mayor in north Mississippi says he is nominating an FBI agent to become police chief.

Tupelo Mayor Todd Jordan said in a statement Thursday that he will ask the City Council to confirm his nominee, John Quaka, during a meeting next week, news outlets reported.

“I believe John’s experience, training and legal background have prepared him for this leadership position,” Jordan said. “I feel confident that he will do an outstanding job.”

Quaka has been with the FBI since 1995. He has lived in Tupelo 20 years and works in the Oxford office. His first posting with the bureau was in the Los Angeles Division. He later worked in the Greenville office and the Tupelo office until it closed.

Former Tupelo Police Chief Bart Aguirre retired during the summer. The city has about 38,300 residents.