Columbus City Council is expected to hire an assistant chief and head of criminal investigations for the police department during this evening’s meeting, scheduled to begin at 5 in the Municipal Complex.
A letter from city Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell attached in the council’s agenda recommends the hiring of Doran Johnson for assistant chief and Rick Jones for head of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division.
Chief Fred Shelton said with the hiring of Anthony Nelson as captain of patrol at the last council meeting, these hires, if approved by the city council, would bring CPD back to a full command staff.
“It would be a tremendous help and it would take some burden off me,” Shelton said. “… I won’t just have to make decisions by myself. I’ll have an assistant chief and two captains. With that amount of experience, we should be able to move forward in this police department, become more efficient, effective and proactive.”
Johnson is one of five applicants for the assistant chief position since Mitchell began advertising for the position in December 2019, according to her letter to the council. He currently serves as the chief school resource officer for Columbus Municipal School District.
Jones, one of three applicants for CID head, is the former administrator of Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. He retired in 2017 and went to work for CPD part-time.
Jones and Nelson both ran unsuccessfully for Lowndes County sheriff in 2019.
Police Chief Fred Shelton declined to comment further on Johnson’s or Jones’ qualifications until after the council meeting.
CPD has been without an assistant chief since Shelton was promoted in January 2018, except for two months in 2018 when Indianola Police Chief Edrick Hall served in that role. Hired in May, Hall left in July to resume his position as police chief in Indianola.
CPD’s former CID head, Capt. Stacey Deans, passed away in August 2019 after several months of severe health issues. Cpl. Eric Lewis has been serving as head of investigations in the interim.
In the letter included in the agenda packet, Mitchell recommends an annual salary of $63,000 for the assistant police chief position and $59,037.45 for the CID position.
The city council is also expected to discuss allocating $15,000 to the Juneteenth Festival, per an inter-local agreement between the city, Lowndes County and Columbus Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau signed last year.
Also on the agenda are board vacancies on multiple boards, including an upcoming vacancy on the CMSD board, with board member Telisa Clay Young’s term set to expire March 3.
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