Milton Moore not returning as Vicksburg police chief

Published 10:06 am Friday, June 18, 2021

Vicksburg Police Chief Milton Moore said Friday he will not be reappointed.

His comments come in the wake of a series of Facebook posts circulating through Vicksburg in which Moore said Mayor George Flaggs, Jr. told him he would not be returning as chief. Moore said Friday Flaggs told him of the decision at a Wednesday meeting. He said he has not determined if he will retire from the department.

Flaggs declined to comment on Moore’s status.

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“We’re (the Board of Mayor and Aldermen) in the process of discussing appointments in the next administration and I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to discuss ongoing discussions of the appointment of any position,” Flaggs said.

He said he would announce department head appointments through a resolution at the new board’s first meeting on July 6.

“Milton has a right to speak,” Flaggs said. “He has a right to talk to the press if that’s what he wants to do. I am not going to discuss it. It’s (the appointments) a work in progress. I don’t have the votes to do anything yet.”

A Vicksburg native and a 21-year veteran of the Vicksburg Police Department, Moore was appointed police chief July 5, 2017. At the time of his appointment, he was a captain over the patrol division, where he supervised 40 officers and also supervised the crime prevention and domestic violence divisions.

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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