Race to the Top

Race to the Top

As many of you know with a new Governor elect comes new positions in the hierarchy of the Mississippi Highway Patrol and many other agencies throughout the state. This year has been an uphill battle for Governor Tate Reeves. He has faced riots at the state penitentiary at Parchman, Covid-19 pandemic, Easter Tornadoes, and many other battles in his short time as Governor. Due to the strenuous heartache he’s dealt with it has been a little slower than usual to name heads of state.

Nevertheless, as the Highway Patrol looks to its future, we rely on those leaders who are put in place to lead us in our endeavors to make Mississippi great. During the past few months, we have been guided by our current administration with Colonel Chris Gillard being over the department of Public Safety.

However, with the new appointment of Commissioner Sean Tindell and Colonel Chris Gillard’s retirement. We all wait and wonder who will be named our next leader over the Highway Patrol. Who may become the head of the department? This position and many others are up in the air and may be announced soon. However, what makes this time so different from all the others is something that has never been done before in the history of the Highway Patrol. Which is the ability for anyone, meeting the recommended qualifications, to apply for Lieutenant Colonel. You may think this should have already been done, but it has not and everyone’s talking.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol has always selected it’s Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel by an appointment positon. However, this is the first time ever this process has been implemented. Troopers both young and old are excited for the future, they believe this may make the race to the top more obtainable for any Trooper from anywhere in the state of Mississippi.

They will be selected because of their qualifications and will lead this great agency into the future as their predecessors have in the past. It is an exciting time for our agency and many others in the state. So standby and watch to see who wins the race to the top.