Mayor Smith concerned about MPD staffing

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The Meridian City Council recently discussed concerns in the Meridian Police Department. Mayor Jimmie Smith addressed the issues of not enough officers and the crime in the city.

Smith said a newly approved pay increase for officers is helping with the recruitment process and having more officers is the main solution to fighting crime. Mayor Smith said the MPD is in the process of recruiting five new officers and wants to showcase them being more involved in the community.

“Some of the things that they talked about is about the Police Department having a better light on it. Talking about more of the positive things. We need the people’s help, and we need the media’s help, to make sure that we’re telling the highlights of good stories and how the police are doing a good job,” said Smith. “We’ve probably got about 60 certified police officers and we want to move that back up, hopefully to 100. We need to recruit these people and we need to fortify our Police Department. That’s going to help us fight crime. At least five new recruits took a test today. Don’t know what the results are, but you know, we’re moving in a positive direction with recruiting.”

Smith said, along with bolstering the number of officers, the MPD needs officers who are active in their communities and get to know the people they serve.

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