By Staff
Jan. 23, 2002
Benny DuBose should be able to settle in pretty quickly as Meridian's new police chief. As assistant chief, he's been acting as chief on an interim basis since July 2001 when former chief Gregg Lewis retired. DuBose already has a handle on day-to-day operations and issues to be faced over the longer term by the department of city government he now officially heads.
Some of these issues may be difficult to resolve, particularly ones related to personnel and pay. Simply put, there are too many vacancies in the department and officers don't make enough money. We have a great respect for MPD officers and their commitment to public safety. We encourage DuBose to make his presence felt early from his new position as chief and we hope he will be able to convince other city officials that police officers' pay should, in fact, be a budget priority.
We also know DuBose is a law enforcement professional with the experience in local police work that will help him hit the ground running.
As we wish DuBose well in this new role, we also appreciate the fact that Mayor John Robert Smith elected to promote from within. After interviewing other candidates for the job, he ultimately decided that the best qualified individual to head the Meridian Police Department was already here.