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Horhn names RaShall Brackney as Jackson police chief

Mayor John Horhn announced Tuesday that he will appoint Dr. RaShall M. Brackney as the next chief of the Jackson Police Department, a move he said follows a national search that included community input, screening and multiple rounds of interviews. The appointment will be submitted to the Jackson City Council for confirmation.

Dr. Brackney brings more than three decades of law enforcement leadership, academic work and community-centered public safety experience to the job. She is a retired veteran of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, where she served for more than 30 years in a series of command and leadership roles.

After her tenure in Pittsburgh, Dr. Brackney served as chief of police at George Washington University and as chief of police for the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. Those roles included responsibilities common to police chiefs, such as setting policy, overseeing operations and engaging with community stakeholders.

The Jackson Police Department serves Mississippi’s capital city, and the police chief post is key to shaping public safety strategy and police-community relations. The appointment requires city council confirmation. We will provide more information as it becomes available.

Jon Myers

Jon Ross Myers founded Mississippi News Group in 2013. Before founding the organization, he worked at The Daily Mississippian, The Marion Salute and The Southern Sentinel. A Mississippi journalist and writer based in Ripley, he received second place in poetry in the 2025 William Faulkner Literary Competition for "The Garden."