New Southaven Police Chief sworn in

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (WMC) - After years in law enforcement, Macon Moore is now the newest police chief of the Southaven Police Department.

It’s a job he’s dreamed of.

"To me, this is one of the most prestigious law enforcement jobs that exists, and I worked a long time. And this, to me, this is the end of the road to me. This is where I'll retire,” said Moore.

Moore has a lengthy history in law enforcement, graduating from the city of Jackson Police Academy in 1990, moving to DeSoto County in 2001 and working with Southaven Police. He then transferred to the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department where he’s worked for 10 years.

Moore's move is bittersweet for DeSoto County Sheriff Bill Rasco

"Southaven made a great choice, and I hate to lose him, but we're still friends,” said Rasco.

The hunt for Southaven's police chief started in June after former Chief Steve Pirtle retired.

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite says it was a competitive process.

"We took this very seriously. We had a national search. We had candidates from the Chicago area, Washington, D.C. and it just speaks well of Chief Moore that he was the person selected,” said Musselwhite.

Moore says he's already getting adjusted to his new position and looking forward to helping protect the city of Southaven.

"I'm a worker. I like to be busy, and I really think I've got a lot of ahead of me so I'm really looking forward to the challenge,” said Moore.

We also talked to the Chief about crime crossing over state lines.

He says a big thing he’ll be focused on is making sure laws are enforced fairly and consistently, especially when it comes to crime in other areas pouring over into Southaven.

“Criminals have no boundaries and we’re not going to have any boundaries. We’re going to work aggressively to enforce laws," said Moore.

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