The Columbus Police Department has a new assistant chief.
Tony McCoy, 46, stepped into the role on Sept. 15. He replaces Joe Johnson, who retired in June, in the position.
McCoy, a Tupelo native, comes from the Tupelo Police Department, where he served for 23 years.
Throughout his time in Tupelo, he served as an internal affairs investigator, shift supervisor of patrol, housing authority officer and was in charge of the K9 unit, as well as various community programs. He made the move to the Columbus to work with Chief Tony Carleton, who also worked with the Tupelo department.
“I looked at it as an opportunity to do something different,” McCoy said. “I’ve had an opportunity to work with Chief Carleton before when he was the chief in Tupelo and we had a really good working relationship. I know him as a man of integrity and I was interested in working with him again.”
Like Carleton, McCoy believes in community policing.
“I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that there have been people’s lives that have been positively affected by some of the things that we’ve done,” he said. “It wasn’t all just arresting people. It was taking time to talk to kids who were going the wrong way and just kind getting on to them, ‘You shouldn’t be doing that, I’m watching.’ And just watching those kids grow…It’s hard to put a price on that.”
McCoy, who holds a degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi, said he also believes in leading by example.
“It would be hard to ask someone to follow you when you’re not willing to do certain things yourself,” he said.
As assistant chief, McCoy said he feels his job is to help support Carleton and combat Columbus’ crime rate.
“My mission is to help the chief try to accomplish his vision and goals for the City of Columbus,” he said. “I think every town has it’s fair share of problems. Some of those problems you hear about more than others. We’re certainly here to help but the problems that are unique to Columbus, I believe those problems can be fixed.”
In order to fix those problems, McCoy said a community effort is key.
“We all have a stake in wanting this community to be a safe community, this town to be a safe town and we’re all going to have to do our part,” he said. “All of us are concerned.”
He added, “I feel like given some time, we can help with that.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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