Potential Meridian police chief candidate to be presented to the city council Oct. 20

In Meridian , an update on the city’s search for a permanent chief of police, after not having one since January this year.

The Meridian Police Department has seen two interim police chiefs since the resignation of previous chief, Benny Dubose, and is currently under the leadership of Lieutenant Patrick Gale, who is serving as acting chief. The city’s chief administrative officer shared that the city believes it has found a strong candidate, who they can present before the city council for a vote. The candidate’s name has not yet been revealed, but he is said to be a former sheriff, and a retired Mississippi Highway Patrolman, from Wayne County.

“It’s been hard trying to find good candidates and its hard to find somebody that does not have anything in their past that might seem questionable, but we’re doing our due diligence on this one and we’re trying to make sure that we get the right person for this position because we believe that’s just how important it is to get the right person.” Eddie Kelly, Meridian’s Chief Administrative Officer.

According to Meridian’s Chief Administrative Officer Eddie Kelly, the city plans to present the potential candidate for the fulltime police chief position to the city council at the next city council meeting at 5pm on Tuesday, October 20.