Jackson’s city council has officially approved a pay raise for incoming police chief Dr. RaShall Brackney.
Brackney was confirmed as the top cop of Mississippi’s capital city in late February, but a miscommunication over her salary threw a wrench in the process. Initially, Jackson Mayor John Horhn had conveyed to Brackney that she would be paid a salary of $150,000. However, at the time of Brackney’s confirmation vote, the top salary for police chief was just over $125,000, meaning the city council would have to amend the pay scale to account for the raise.
On Tuesday, the council voted 5-0 to approve Brackney’s salary, with Ward 1 councilman Ashby Foote leaving the room before the tally was counted and Ward 2 councilwoman Tina Clay abstaining. Brackney will officially assume her post on April 1. Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones is doing double duty in the meantime.
According to city officials, the extra money to pay the new police chief will come from funds acquired through law enforcement auctions and vacant positions.
Before her appointment to be chief in Jackson, Brackney rose through the ranks in Pittsburgh, Penn., and became a commander overseeing major crimes, operations, special operations, administration, and crime analysis. She became the first Black woman in the U.S. to oversee a special operations division that included SWAT, mounted patrol, accident investigation, hostage negotiations, river rescue, traffic, and the bomb squad.
After retiring from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in 2015, she served as the chief in Charlottesville, Va., and at George Washington University in Washington. She will soon replace Joseph Wade, who retired in September after just over two years on the job.