Law enforcement agencies from all corners of the Magnolia State met in Flowood for the inaugural Mississippi Public Safety Summit.
The summit, hosted by Governor Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch, and Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, focused on strategies for police entities throughout the state to improve their communication with one another so that they can work together to fight crime.
Officers in attendance heard from keynote speakers Operation Underground Railroad founder Tim Ballard, former command master chief of SEAL Team Six Dave Cooper, Delta State University Professor Dr. Kent Wessinger, and FBI special agent Bradley Hentschel.
The speakers gave attendees insight on leadership training, communication, and how to work as a collective unit to benefit the state as a whole, especially when addressing difficult topics such as human trafficking and the opioid crisis.
Further, DPS Commissioner Sean Tindell stated that a unified approach to how officers respond to situations in which a civilian is recording his or her every move during a traffic stop, arrest, etc. is essential due to the uptick in police encounters with subjects that are displayed on social media.
“Now we’re expecting law enforcement officers to not only do their job as a law enforcement officer, but they have to be marriage and therapy counselors, mental health professionals, constitutional scholars, and so there is so much more pressure put on them and we need to provide better training in that aspect,” Tindell said on The Gallo Show.
Tindell added that this year’s summit has been a success and plans to host more in future years.
