Jackson Mayor John Horhn has selected Dr. RaShall Brackney to be the new police chief of Jackson.
Most of Brackney’s career, 30 years, was in the Pittsburgh Police Bureau. She later served as chief of campus police at George Washington University and, most recently, police chief in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Brackney takes over from interim chief Tyree Jones, also serving as Hinds County Sheriff. This week she visited Jackson where she spoke to various groups and was shown around town by Mayor Horhn.
Brackney arrives at a time when Jackson murders are improving rapidly. From a peak of at least 157 homicides in 2021, the numbers have fallen to 140 in 2022, 119 in 2023, 111 in 2024, and 75 in 2025. Early 2026 data indicates a 75% drop in January 2026 compared to January 2024. January 2026 homicides dropped to a 13-year low.
Speaking recently at the Rotary Club of North Jackson, Jim Brinson, Interim Director, Mississippi Department of Homeland Security, attributed the drop in the murder rate to Operation Unified.
Operation Unified started in mid-January, 2024, to get violent drug traffickers and criminals off Jackson’s streets. Participating agencies include the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Narcotics, Capitol Police and Office of Homeland Security, the Jackson Police Department, the Hinds County District Attorney and Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the FBI, DEA, and ATF, as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Governor Tate Reeves spearheaded Operation Unified. It’s a great example of how state leaders are now understanding the importance of having a safe, vibrant Jackson.
Jackson is the most important city in Mississippi. Jackson is the state capital. Jackson is Mississippi’s largest city by far. Jackson is the center of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 594,806, the 95th in the United States. Jackson is in the geographic center of our state.
Mississippi cannot reach its full potential without a strong, safe, prosperous and growing Jackson. It’s encouraging to see our state leaders embrace this goal.
The Operation Unified used covert raids and targeted high-crime areas, leading to more than 2,000 arrests and the seizure of over 400 firearms by late 2024.
JPD and its partners used advanced crime-mapping and data analysis to identify hotspots and proactively deploy resources. Higher bonds were used to keep violent perpetrators off the streets. As the murder “solvability rate” increased, confidence and cooperation with citizens improved.
Unfortunately, Brinson predicted the murder rate would eventually climb back up if there is not a more permanent solution to stop gang warfare over the drug trade.
What Operation Unified proved that if you allocate enough resources and determination to reduce the Jackson murder rate, it can decline.
The question now is whether Brackney can keep the positive momentum going.
She has a strong, dynamic personality and her career has been ground breaking. Brackney made history as one of the first African American woman in the United States to oversee a Special Operations Division, where she managed the SWAT team, hostage negotiations, mounted patrol, accident team, bomb squad, river rescue, traffic and major crimes investigations.
Brackney worked her way up the ladder in Pittsburgh. She started as a patrol officer in 1984, then became sergeant in 1995, then lieutenant in 1996 and a commander in 2000 before retiring in 2015.
When I asked Gemini AI about her reputation it said: While described by supporters as "intelligent and articulate," critics labeled her arrogant and argumentative. Some officers claimed she ruled with an "iron fist," leading to friction with the rank-and-file that would later mirror the challenges she faced as Chief in Charlottesville.
In Charlottesville, Brackney served from 2018 to 2021. She was the first female police chief in Charlottesville.
She was abruptly fired by the city manager Chip Broyles. City council members and the mayor questioned the decision. It was a controversy.
Charlottesville mayor at the time Nikuyah Walker said she was blindsided by the decision.
“There’s only been a handful of people who’ve been working on breaking down institutional racism,” Walker said. “We’re losing someone who is doing this work.”
City councilor Lloyd Snook was quoted in the local media saying, “Chip Boyles did not tell us ahead of time what he was doing. He told us what kinds of things he was thinking about. At no point did councilors say to him ‘fire her.’”
Apparently, a morale problem had developed under Brackney’s leadership with the rank and file officers complaining that they feared retaliation from community groups for just doing their jobs.
In Brackney’s defense, other community groups supporting Brackney said she was battling entrenched racism and unprofessional conduct among the rank and file officers.
A survey indicated officers were engaged in work slowdowns because of lack of morale and dissatisfaction with Brackney’s leadership. Either a large number of officers needed to go or Brackney needed to go. The city manager then decided to fire Brackney.
Following her firing, Brackney filed a $10 million lawsuit alleging racial and gender discrimination. A federal judge dismissed the case in early 2023, ruling she failed to provide sufficient evidence of bias.
During Brackney’s tenure, violent crime dropped in Charlottesville. She left just before the covid epidemic.
Since then she’s been a consultant and an academic, teaching at George Mason University on the criminal justice system and how it relates to the community.
She was one of three finalists for Minneapolis police chief. She’s working on a book titled, “The Bruising of America—When Black, White and Blue Collide.”
