FILE PHOTOS Brookhaven Chief of Police Kenneth Collins

With just days left in his final term, Brookhaven’s police chief issued a message of reassurance, encouragement, and accountability to the city’s citizens and leadership.

Kenneth Collins took on the title of police chief when he was first elected to the office in 2017. Since then, he has been in the news for actions, attitudes and statements in regard to service, the loss of fellow officers, the addition and implementation of new ordinances and equipment, interactions with protesters and city leaders, and crime — whether in response or prevention.

In 2021, Collins warned that much of the crime taking place within the city was gang-related.

“Wake up, Brookhaven. We need to wake up. We are in the fight for the soul of our beautiful city,” he said.

He urged parents to keep track of their children and be aware of what was going on inside their homes; not to let them walk the streets at night; and work together with law enforcement to keep their children unharmed and out of prison.

The chief insisted on security cameras to be placed in every area of Brookhaven where crimes were taking place — beginning with Rogers Circle and the Cloverdale Housing Complex.

“Cameras are not afraid to testify,” he said.

On Monday, Collins issued a formal statement to the community.

“Some of your kids are out here shooting up their friends, their cousins, their kinfolk, and their neighborhood. They are out here at night, going into people’s cars and stuff at 3, 4, and 5 in the morning. They are making videos with big guns and smoking dope,” he said. “How in the world is it that you don’t know your children are doing these criminal acts?”

The curfew currently in place is not enough on its own, Collins said.

“We are going to get with the judge and the new administration before I leave, and we’re going to start charging the guardians and parents, letting the curfew work together with the existing laws,” said the chief. “If a child breaks curfew the first time, the parent or guardian needs to be charged a $200 fine. If the child gets caught breaking curfew again, the parent or guardian needs to be charged under the existing law of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, plus that fine. If the child is caught a third time — shooting people, shooting up the neighborhood — the parent or guardian will be charged with negligence.

“Because until we hold these guardians and parents accountable for their kids, it’s not going to get any better.”

Collins said the inner city needs to be “locked down” with cameras, facial recognition and similar technology — with access limited to the chief of police, sheriff, and their detectives.

“Some of your kids have a video out, saying that Brookhaven is in the spin cycle,” said Collins. “Well, I’m telling them that law enforcement is going to put them in the wash and the rinse cycle in the name of Jesus. And if that doesn’t work, we’re going to put them in the dry cycle — that’s in jail and in prison. We, along with the Sheriff’s Department and federal agencies, are not going to let Brookhaven be taken over by these gangs.”

Collins said investigators know who the majority of the gang members are, and are steadily gathering information on them building cases against them to be presented in court, so the offenders can be sent to jail or prison.

As the chief law enforcement officer of the city, the chief said he accepts both the fame and blame. Now it’s time for everyone to work together as a community and city to keep Brookhaven safe, he said.

“It’s time for elected officials to stop undermining the authority of the chief, and letting officers inside the department who have aspirations of power undermine his authority, because until that changes nobody that you put in here (as chief) will be able to do their job,” said Collins.

“We have several of them inside the department who need to be gone, being insubordinate and disrespectful. I have two commanders over my Special Response Team — Detective Tim Sander and Det. Jonathan Hart. They are commanders because they handle all the tactical operations. I have never seen elected officials undermine officers like this before.

“Brookhaven has a Special Response Team They train religiously on things we pray never happen, but they train. That’s why they’re commanders — you don’t want a captain or lieutenant coming in and taking control of a scene if they’re not trained for it. Only the chief can come in and handle this, and we work with the sheriff’s office in this.

“Why should we wait for someone to come down from Jackson to handle a bad situation? We should be able to handle it with our officers. With the firepower they’ve got out here on the streets, it’s unconscionable to talk about getting rid of our Special Response Team and all of our equipment,” he said, saying some members of the Board, existing or incoming, were considering doing just that.

“We are responsible for the city and the safety of our town, and we’ve got to plan for things we hope never come. I know it’s a fearful time in the city with the gangs trying to take over our town,” Collins said. “To the citizens of Brookhaven, I say, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because the Lord God is with me.’ Brookhaven strong forever and always.”

Chief Collins’ final day in office will be June 30. The Board of Aldermen and Mayor Joe Cox made the chief position an appointed one, rather than elected, after a series of votes — with aldermen Shannon Moore, Charles Caston and Fletcher Grice voting against the final move. Alderman James Magee Jr. was absent for that final vote, but had pushed for an elected chief in earlier meetings. Collins will retire after more than three decades with the department.

Former deputy and current Copiah-Lincoln Community College officer Randy Belcher has been named the city’s interim police chief, to take office July 1 as the board officially begins the search for a new chief.

Collins closed his message to the community with the same sentiment he has shared many times since in office — “It’s not about power. It’s about service.”