Chief draws from Honduras experience in first year at helm of Batesville Police Dept.

By Jeremy Weldon
Batesville Police Chief Jimmy McCloud remembers the day he decided his efforts in law enforcement would include special attention to the children of his community.
“It was on a mission trip to Honduras that I really became aware of the situation kids are sometimes in,” McCloud said. “We worked with all kinds of children, but two boys – identical twins – really touched me.”
McCloud was on the trip with Badges of Faith – a ministry made up entirely of police officers. A missed airline connection left the chief stranded at the Houston airport, thinking about all he had seen on the mission field and how to use his profession to reach children before they become snared in a cycle of crime and poverty.
“It was Jan. 10, 2017, and I told myself that day if I ever got the opportunity to be a police chief, I would make some of the focus be on the young children. I saw there, and here too, how much difference can be made in a young person’s life when you show them you love them.”
Following the trip, McCloud returned to Batesville and his long-time post at the Police Department. Just 15 days later, the current chief had resigned, and McCloud was named to head the force.
“I knew then that what I had seen in Honduras was for a reason,” he said. “As soon as I became chief we started being more visible in the schools, and thinking of ways to promote relationships between the police department and the people around us every day.”
Community policing is not new, and has been used for many years across the nation to form closer bonds between police and the neighborhoods they patrol. Authorities often speak of the necessity of good relations with the public and recognize that communication, based on high visibility and involvement, is essential.
McCloud said he, too, had spent most of his law enforcement career without a focus on community policing.
“While I was waiting in the airport for a day, I had the chance to do a lot of thinking,” he said. “I realized we have to quit talking about this stuff and start doing something.”
And start was what McCloud did. Small, at first, with just a few visits a month to Batesville Elementary School. Later, he began to send patrolmen, investigators, and other personnel to the elementary school in pairs to interact with the students.
It’s often just cookies and juice boxes, but McCloud said the past year’s efforts have begun to build bridges and connections with the children. “I’ve sat and colored with the children, I’ve played games with them, and whatever it takes to reach out.”
South Panola schools have been on the police department’s agenda for several years with School Resource Officers, D.A.R.E., and other structured programs that involve police, but McCloud’s latest efforts have been less formal and more spontaneous.
Sometimes officers are given a specific class to visit, bringing snacks and surprises to the children. “Easter, St.Patrick’s Day, Halloween, whatever it is we want to leave those classes with the children knowing one thing -we are loved by our police department.”
That’s the result McCloud hopes to achieve. Not just for good relations the day of the visit, but a lasting impression of respect that endures for decades.
“Fortunately we have not had any major problems in Batesville, but incidents can happen in any community. We want to avoid any type of ‘Ferguson moment’ in our city,” he said, referring to the chaos caused by residents of Ferguson, Mo., following a police shooting there.
The unfortunate incident touched off months of protesting, looting and general rioting, exposing a deep rift and distrust between parts of that city and its police.
“All of that could have been avoided,” McCloud said. “
Last year, he started a community outreach program called “Coffee & Conversation” held each quarter. So far, the police have hosted local residents at Square Tacos, Hardees, and McDonalds, for just that – Coffee and conversation.
McCloud bills the events as “no agenda and no speeches. Just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the officers of the police department.”
The response from the community has been tremendous. Now, he hopes to add another event – This one aimed at children – And he is thinking on a grand scale.
McCloud asked for, and was given, permission from the Batesville Mayor and Board of Aldermen this week to host “Picnicing with Police” in early June.
“This is going to be a bid deal,” the chief said. “I’m really hoping to get the service clubs and the whole community behind us.”
McCloud will use the Civic Center and have full day of eats and fun for children and their families. There will be several “bounce” houses, patrol cars parked on the floor of the arena for kids to crawl through and push buttons, horses from the Oxford Police Department’s Mounted Patrol division, Shetland ponies for the children to pet and be photographed with, and various other activities.
McCloud is asking for volunteers to help supervise the event. “I really would like other people to help and free up our officers to spend the day playing with the kids and interacting with the community.”
“I’m even going to be in the dunking booth part of the day,” he said.
The event will be free for everyone, and will further strengthen ties between police and the people they serve, he said. To volunteer your group or organization, contact McCloud at the police station.
Asked if he’s concerned about distracters not supportive of this type of policing, or the thinking behind community outreach, McCloud is fast to respond.
“Not hardly. This department, and this City Board, are dedicated as ever to the protection of our citizens. I think that’s evident in our increased patrols and visibility.”
Be assured, he said, the Batesville police chief has not “gone soft on crime.”
“There is a balance in community policing, and I see that now.”