Thank you Milton Moore

Vicksburg Police Chief Milton Moore confirmed that he will no longer be the police chief once the new Board of Mayor and Aldermen meet to make that decision. Moore has been at the helm of the PD during one of the most difficult periods in American history for law enforcement. The national mood on law enforcement officers changed drastically with videos of police abusing their powers popping up on social media.

While the nation was experiencing an increase in violent crime, Vicksburg also experienced one of its worst periods of senseless violence as well, including several homicides. Children were killing children and the bad news did not stop. Just this month a 14-year-old shot and killed an 11-year-old.

In my position as a reporter on these events, I’ve seen Chief Moore in these situations more times than I care to remember. I’ve seen the pain and hurt on his face as he spoke with the families of the victim and the shooter. He treated all of them with respect while doing his job and trying to discover the details of the events that brought them all together. I watched Chief Moore talk to a man that had just been involved in a fight that escalated to that man firing his gun and wounding the other person. He calmed that man and walked with him to the police car that would drive him to the police station. Chief Moore asked the officer driving that vehicle if the larger man could ride in the back seat without his handcuffs.

I saw the shock and pain in Chief Moores’s eyes when he was shown a body in a car, the victim bled out from his wounds after a fight nearby. Chief Moore knew the man and had helped him get his life back together. When the Chief saw me in the distance watching he toughened up his face.

Mayor Flaggs is the police commissioner and is charged with the ultimate responsibility for solving the crime problems our community is facing on his watch. The Mayor was unable to remove Chief Armstrong during his first term but once the South Ward Alderman changed out for his second term he was able to install Moore as Chief. This reporter fought hard to keep Armstrong because I saw, close up, the impact Armstrong had on the police department. But Flaggs insisted on replacing Armstrong. After an editorial in 2017 imploring the mayor to not fix what was not broken, Milton Moore found me to introduce himself and thank me for my kind words toward him.

That first impression never left me. A gentleman in a difficult situation showed civility and offered a handshake to work together.

Chief Moore, I see you. Thank you for putting your heart and soul into the job and for the efforts you have made to keep our community safe. It is my sincere hope you will consider staying on with the department. Your skills are needed.