Flaggs to announce plan Wednesday to ‘beat crime”

Published 1:14 pm Monday, October 21, 2019

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said Monday he plans to reorganize the Vicksburg Police Department.

Flaggs announced his intentions at Monday’s meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, saying he would present the plan at a 10 a.m. news conference Wednesday.

Flaggs said he is “using the so-called authority as police commissioner and making some recommendations,” and will meet with Police Chief Milton Moore Tuesday to discuss the proposed plan.

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He would not give the details of the plan, but said it would “give the police department leadership internal accountability and function.”

Under the city charter, the mayor is the police commissioner and can recommend changes in the department, which must be approved by the board.

“The time is coming when we can do better,” he said, adding the board is expected to vote on the changes at its Friday meeting.

Flaggs said he did not talk to Moore on anyone at the police department before developing the plan and did not talk to any law enforcement consultants about the plan.

“This (the proposal) has come from my observation of six years of the Vicksburg Police Department, and I think the public will be more than pleased,” he said. “I want the public to know exactly who’s responsible and who they need to approach if there’s any problem,” Flaggs said.

The announcement comes weeks after the department hosted a town hall to address public safety concerns from the public.

“I have every intention of making the Vicksburg Police Department more functional, responsible and more internally accountable for it’s supervision and action to the public,” Flaggs said.

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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