Meridian police officers received much more positive feedback from the August Lauderdale County grand jury than they have in the past, showing the impact of training and investment in the city’s law enforcement.

Sgt. Dareall Thompson, who oversees Meridian Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, said he, too, has seen the officers improve. In the year he has been in the position, he said, officers have completed a variety of training and instruction involving both law enforcement and local prosecutors.

Prosecutors are ultimately the ones that have to try the cases investigators bring to them, Thompson said, and working with the District Attorney’s office to help Meridian’s officers understand what is needed to get convictions has also been very helpful.

“What they wanted in cases helped out a lot,” he said. “What they was looking for to be able to prosecute these offenders helped out a lot.”

Investigators, however, are not the only ones who have been working hard, Thompson said. Patrol officers, who are the first on the scene, have also been training and learning how to preserve crime scenes and set the department up for success, he said.

“When they go to a crime scene, they know what not to touch, what to tape off and everything,” he said. “So it’s a whole effort from patrol and investigators.”

Thompson said it’s not uncommon for patrol officers to come in on their days off to work with investigators and learn from them. Patrol officers are the initial responders to incidents, he said, and it is their responsibility to determine whether investigators should be called in.

“We come in after they’ve determined and said, ‘we need an investigator,’ so they play a key a part in it,” he said. “So they’ve been eager to com in on their off days to learn what we need.”

Police Chief Deborah Naylor Young said everyone in the department has been working hard, both officers and civilians alike.

“They get out there, and they are working hard, and they are working together,” she said. “And not just patrol and Criminal Investigation Division, also the evidence technician, which are civilian employees that help them go out and collect the evidence. They do an awesome job with helping them get this cases worked and solved.”

Thompson said having the evidence technicians available to collect the evidence frees up valuable time investigators can spend interviewing witnesses or victims and getting a head start on the case.

Another big help has been the city’s investment in body cameras and technology for the police department. Young said MPD had some body cameras when she was appointed chief in 2021, but there were not enough for every officer, and they weren’t in the best shape. In September 2023, the department purchased 80 body cameras from Axios after spending several months testing out several different camera models.

Working with the City Council and mayor’s office, MPD has also been able to purchase several new vehicles and is working to develop a citywide network of cameras that will feed into a real time crime center set to be built on the south end of the police station. Young said the investment in the department is paying off with the cases it helps her officers build.

“Getting those body cameras, getting the new cars and everything has helped out tremendously with these guys,” she said. “Working on the camera systems and hopefully getting this real time crime center in place will help them even more with their jobs and with investigating, and hopefully we’re deterring the crime.”

The body cameras have also proven a big help in working with the DA’s office, Thompson said, as all of the evidence, witness interviews and other information pertaining to the case is all there on video.

Mayor Jimmie Smith said the city has been working hard to rebuild its police department and is seeing the fruits of its efforts. There is still work to be done, he said, but marked progress has been made.

“We have been in the process of rebuilding our police department since the last administration, and I think we’re doing an excellent job,” he said.

Another tool that has helped the department has been the Violent Crime Unit, Thompson said. The VCU is made up of five investigators and two evidence technicians, who are tasked with investigating shootings, aggravated assaults and other violent crime in the city, he said.

“They are the ones going to be responding to those calls,” he said.

Thompson said there has also been a noticeable increase in cooperation from the community as investigators work to solve crimes. While residents may not feel comfortable talking to officers at the scene of incidents, people will call the department later on, he said.

Having assistance from the community is a key part in solving investigations, and residents do not have to give their names if they don’t want to, he said.

Meridian police officers are working hard to train, learn and keep the community safe, Young said, and she is proud of her officers’ efforts. While there is always room to improve, the will and determination is there to be the best police force possible for Meridian’s residents.

“We want Meridian Police Department to be the best in this area when it comes to law enforcement,” she said. “We want our people to be highly trained, highly skilled officers our there. We want people who are passing through on this interstate that stop here to shop and eat and visit family members to feel comfortable when they stop here, and we want them to feel like they are part of the family by the way we interact with them.”