Law enforcement veteran Joseph Daughtry, the police chief credited with helping curb homicides in Columbus and recently a finalist to lead Mississippi’s largest police department in Jackson, has accepted a new job as the top cop in another city — though one that is much smaller than the capital.
The Yazoo City Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously Monday night to hire Daughtry and give him an annual salary of $95,000. Prior to the vote, Mayor Macklyn Austin and members had discussions about how the decision could be a turning point for the Delta city of roughly 10,000 people that has struggled to hold a sufficient number of officers.
In December 2025, the board voted to declare a state of emergency due to a shortage of police officers. The measure noted that the city was operating under “conditions of extreme peril” and that policing duties would be absorbed by the Yazoo County Sheriff’s Office until the officer shortage could be addressed.
Daughtry, who is expected to be sworn in at the next board meeting on July 27, will be the 11th chief in 12 years in Yazoo City. He will have his hands full in trying to manage not only the shortage but crime that is at an “all-time high,” according to Sheriff Jeremy McCoy.
Meanwhile, in Columbus, city leaders apparently had no idea that Daughtry was still looking to leave after narrowly missing out on becoming chief in Jackson earlier this year. Daughtry was one of four finalists for the Jackson Police Department job, one that ultimately went to former Pittsburgh Bureau of Police commander Dr. RaShall Brackney.
“I did not know about it, but I just heard about it,” Columbus Mayor Stephen Jones told WTVA after the vote in Yazoo City. “I’m still trying to take it in, because I didn’t know anything about it.”
Jones added that, to his knowledge, Daughtry had been busy recovering from surgery — not searching for a new job. Daughtry had missed time recently with health issues, but the timelines on when he interviewed for the Yazoo City job and when he left for surgery remain unclear.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Daughtry had not publicly released a statement on becoming the next chief in Yazoo City.
Daughtry has roughly three decades of law enforcement experience, with the most recent calendar year being a very positive one. In 2025, Columbus experienced 365 days without a homicide, the first time that had happened in more than two decades.
Daughtry took over the police department in Columbus in December 2022 after previously serving as chief in Natchez and Pelahatchie. Beforehand, he worked in sheriff’s offices in Rankin and Hinds counties. He is the former president of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police and currently serves as vice president of the Greater Mississippi Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
It is worth noting that, while Daughtry has been praised as a successful law enforcement leader in Columbus, he has also faced criticism from some employees who accused him of hurting morale within the department. Earlier this year, a group of Columbus police officers reportedly considered taking collective sick leave, alleging that Daughtry neither respected nor honored their scheduled days off.
