A retired law enforcement officer with 28 years of local experience and a 17-year veteran of the Jackson Police Department were tapped Tuesday by the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen as new deputy chiefs of the Vicksburg Police Department, effective Oct. 1.

John Dolan — who formerly served 18 years with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, four years with VPD and six years with the Mississippi Gaming Commission — will be deputy chief with administrative duties. Lt. Jeffrey Scott, who was public information officer for the Jackson force, will oversee all department operations.

Police Chief Walter Armstrong recommended Dolan and Scott for the positions during the meeting Tuesday. Scott was approved unanimously by the mayor and two aldermen, while South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman cast the lone vote against Dolan’s appointment.

“I just don’t feel like we need that position at this time,” said Beauman, who also cast the lone dissenting vote on Armstrong’s appointment in July and had twice previously nominated Deputy Chief Richard O’Bannon for reappointment, but could not get a second from Mayor Paul Winfield or North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield.

O’Bannon, who came to Vicksburg from Biloxi with former chief Tommy Moffett in the fall of 2001, was fired in closed session following the board’s regular meeting, effective immediately. He did not return a call for comment.

The salaries of Scott and Dolan were not set Tuesday, but Winfield said he anticipates they will both make about what O’Bannon did — $70,492.224 annually. The mayor had said last week the money for an added deputy chief would have to be found within the proposed $6.3 million police department budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. However, the final budget, also approved by the board Tuesday, included an additional $87,342 in personnel spending over the proposed budget presented at an Aug. 27 public hearing. 

Scott, 40, began with the Jackson force as a dispatcher in 1992. He is a former patrol officer, and oversaw more than 200 homicide investigations as a crime scene investigator. He is a graduate of Jackson State University, the Federal Emergency Management Institute in Maryland and the Metro Police Institute of Miami-Dade County, Fla. He called the opportunity to serve in Vicksburg “a dream job.”

“I have a lot of ideas that the chief and I have discussed, and I hope we can do some things to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Vicksburg,” Scott said. “Vicksburg is a beautiful city, it has some of the nicest people you could ever meet and me and my family are looking forward to becoming a part of it.”

Scott lives in Clinton with his wife and two children, 16 and 4 years-old, and said his family will relocate to Vicksburg.

Dolan has lived in Vicksburg since he was 17 years old and is married with one child. He is a graduate of St. Aloysius High School as well as the University of Southern Mississippi. In 1977 he completed the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy. He left the Warren County’s Sheriff’s Department as chief of detectives, served as the VPD deputy chief from 1993 to 1997 and was an enforcement agent for the gaming commission from 1998 to 2004.

Dolan, 55, said he’s excited to return to the Vicksburg force, and made sure to note he intends to earn every penny he makes at the newly created position.

“I think having the contacts I have, not only in law enforcement but with the citizens, will be a great benefit to the department,” said Dolan. “In my 28 years I gave the taxpayers their money’s worth and in the next four years I will give them their money’s worth again. I will not be a waste of taxpayers’ money.”

In advocating for an added deputy chief, Armstrong told the board other police departments around the state of similar size and budget also have two deputy chiefs, and added the Vicksburg force has historically had as many as four deputy chiefs.

“Over the past 10 weeks we have been extremely busy, the current deputy chief and myself, we have had full days that extend past 5 o’clock in the afternoon and include some weekends,” he said. “Having said that, (another deputy is needed) if nothing else but to have an extra person on our command staff to help distribute the workload.”

The chief said Dolan will oversee about 20 employees who, unlike sworn officers, are not in the civil service system. He will also assist with department communications, coordination with community groups, personnel training and testing, grant applications, purchasing and budgeting. As deputy chief of operations, Scott will oversee the patrol division, detective bureau, narcotics, warrants, crime scene investigation, community relations and school resource officers.

Winfield gave his new police chief and the VPD high praise at Tuesday’s meeting, which included the swearing in of four new officers.

“Since they’ve been in place, they have solved every major criminal offense in the city and have made more than 50 felony arrests,” he said. “What (Chief Armstrong) is attempting to do is put the proper people in the proper places to make his department successful, and I fully support his recommendations.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com