Continued changes to Starkville Police Department’s leadership structure could come today if aldermen approve a resolution establishing an assistant chief’s position.
The board is expected to consider establishing the position at a salary grade 16 pay scale — or approximately $50,000-$70,000 annually — setting its job description and approving advertising to fill the spot.
Interim SPD Chief John Outlaw is the last officer to serve as assistant chief. He retired in 2010.
Leadership changes within SPD are guaranteed as the city searches for a new police chief. Last week, officials confirmed two applicants had submitted their resumes for the vacant position. SPD Capt. Frank Nichols confirmed his candidacy to The Dispatch Wednesday. He is expected to be the only internal SPD candidate for the position. A new applicant count was unavailable Monday due to the city’s human resources department’s closure for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
If approved Tuesday, the assistant police chief’s position is expected to sit vacant until the incoming SPD leader can help with the search. The board originally was slated to discuss the SPD chief hire today, but that action was removed from the agenda Friday.
The pending assistant chief’s job description states the new hire will handle many administrative and managerial functions similar to the chief’s position, including: assisting in planning, staffing and directing police activities; coordinating, preparing and administering SPD’s budget; investigating citizen complaints about personnel conduct and services; and serving as an chief communicator to the public.
Former Chief David Lindley effectively retired at the end of the year after an internal SPD investigation was authorized by the board after a situation arose when his wife, former MSU police Chief Georgia Lindley, struck a car before the MSU-Alabama football game. Georgia Lindley would resign her post in December after she was charged with driving under the influence from a separate incident that same month.
In other business, the board will consider:
■ adopting a letter of support for the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority’s environmental review for its capital fund program;
■ approving a shared Golden Triangle Regional Airport Authority Board position between West Point and Clay County;
■ purchasing 12 sets of fire gear for $26,500.44;
■ purchasing a data storage array for $16,881.25;
■ and advertising for vacant positions within Starkville Fire Department and the city’s sanitation division.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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