Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong was selected to be in a leadership role for the state’s police chiefs.

Armstrong was chosen as Central Vice President of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, the state’s professional organization for municipal and university law enforcement.

The group serves as a liaison between law enforcement agencies and the Mississippi Legislature. Armstrong was selected last week to serve on the association’s legislative committee that formulates the agenda for the upcoming year.

“We push various legislation that would benefit law enforcement across the state,” Armstrong said.

Among those items is a potential reduction in liability insurance rates for the state’s 26 nationally accredited police departments, he said.

“That accreditation says you are using best practices and reducing liability,” Armstrong said.

One of the other goals of the organization is to raise pay for officers who work at accredited departments, he said. Under the proposal, the extra pay would be provided by the state rather than burden the budgets of each department.

“This is something that has been talked about in recent years but because of budget restraints it has not gained any traction,” he said.

Armstrong has led the VPD since 2009 when former Mayor Paul Winfield appointed him. He was reappointed under the current administration when Mayor George Flaggs Jr. took office last July.

He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Hinds Community College and Alcorn State University.

The Batesville native spent 25 years with the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol before retiring from an administrative position there in 2009.