UNLIKELY PATH LEADS CHIEF TO JPD

She changed her plans from teaching junior high students to doing
undercover drug purchases at the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

She kept her job a secret for five years to shield her family from
potential danger.

And she recognizes the importance of stepping out of Jackson Mayor
Frank Melton's shadow to show the public who calls the shots at the
state's largest police department.

Since her confirmation as police chief in July, Shirlene Anderson has
re-organized JPD's command staff and cut 18 positions at the department.

Anderson said she plans to raise morale and pay in a department once
plagued by corruption, establish an intelligence unit that would
collect citizen complaints of drug activity and auto theft, increase
manpower and make officers more visible on the streets.

But some say Anderson needs to increase her visibility and show her
department the toughness necessary to earn and maintain their respect.

She acknowledges Melton has earned the nickname "mayor chief" from
those who say he has as much input at City Hall as he does in the
police department.

"Frank is more visible and people have known Frank longer than me,"
she said. "No matter who's the chief, Frank is visible no matter
what. You can be the mayor chief, but when the last decision is made,
it's by the police chief."

Quiet Authority

Anderson, 53, had retired from a 29-year career with the MBN in
October 2004 when Melton approached her about being the city's top
law enforcement officer. When she left, she was a staff commander
setting up an intelligence unit at the state Penitentiary at Parchman.

Anderson, a Leland native, is a petite 5-foot-2 woman who doesn't
often wear her uniform, opting instead for light-colored pantsuits
and leather-soled shoes. Anderson, the city's 11th chief in 17 years,
replaced Robert Moore, who held the position for three years. He
formally retired June 30.

Police say her open-door policy and friendliness, combined with an
ability to stand her ground when making decisions are what make her
good for the department's 508 officers. Moore was perceived as being
lax about crime and seen by officers as antisocial.

"They (officers) don't talk bad or good about her," said Jackson
police Lt. Robert Whiteside. "They acknowledge that she's new. What
authority has been seen is quiet and behind the scenes. It's a quiet
confidence, being effective with no pretense or posturing. In the
beginning, Melton overshadowed her a bit, and I think he knew that."

Ridgeland Police Chief Jimmy Houston, who shares a jurisdictional
boundary with Jackson police on County Line Road, said he hasn't
spoken much to Anderson.

"I went to her swearing-in, and we had a couple conversations with
her over the phone. It's not different than the way it was with Chief
Moore or any chief with JPD. She's got to have some time to settle
in. I have given her my promise for full support."

Can-Do Attitude

When discussing her job, instead of answering questions behind the
large wooden desk in her undecorated office, she chooses to sit at a
round table near the entrance to her office, moving between the edge
of her chair to the window to peer into the Jackson skyline.

Anderson prefers to wait until JPD's headquarters is completed late
this year to decorate her office. In the meantime, she's living
part-time in Jackson while searching for a house but is keeping her
Leland home.

She chooses not to elaborate on her personal life but offers some
tidbits about her past.

Her pet peeve is someone telling her she can't do something, thus her
attraction to a law enforcement career that led her to being the
city's first black female police chief.

No one in Anderson's family is involved in law enforcement.

"In the early years, I didn't tell anyone but my brother," Anderson
said. "I didn't want them (my family) to worry. They were very
supportive, but it was undercover work purchasing drugs. I didn't
want anything to happen to them because of the nature of my job."

And her journey to the MBN began in an unconventional way.

"I wanted to go to the military, but I was 17 when I graduated high
school," she said. "I applied to Mississippi Valley State University
at the last minute and picked education (as a major) because I knew
I'd have a job when I came out."

But while working in Greenwood, teaching physical education and
science to junior high students, Anderson changed her career path.

"The MBN was recruiting, and I saw a commercial on TV," she said. "I
called and they sent an application. They gave me an interview, but I
still didn't think they'd hire a green person to do law enforcement."

Confidence Earned

Council President Marshand Crisler said Anderson seems to have earned
the confidence from JPD's rank-and-file.

"If I gave a 90-day report card, you'd have to say she's done
everything by the book to get control of a huge, demanding
department," he said. "She's gotten an accurate assessment of the
department's goals and needs."

But Crisler said one move Anderson has made - her order to pull the
department's 11-member narcotics unit off the street in August to
clean a backlogged evidence room - was questionable. The unit is
continuing the cleanup until late October, Anderson said.

"I am not confident that's the direction we want to go in," Crisler
said. "We don't have enough officers on the street as it is. It sends
the wrong message. We've got to have people in the streets as much as we can."

Bill Stidham, a 31-year Jackson resident and member of the Alta Woods
Neighborhood Association, said Anderson needs to be more visible.

"She hasn't been very active with the public that I know of," Stidham
said. "I assume she's caught in the middle. She was the mayor's pick,
and he's calling the shots on police action. You have to go along
with what he's saying."

Stidham said there are ways Anderson can improve her image.

"I think she needs to go out in the community more and be a leader,"
he said. "You can't lead from behind a desk. She needs to be seen
more in the public. You seldom see her on TV. She needs to be tough.
She needs to start looking at her own officers and clean up her
department. Then, she can go out and be more effective."

Anderson said she's aware that all eyes are on her as Melton's choice
for chief, and she acknowledges she'll make mistakes she hopes to learn from.

"He's given me the opportunity to do something no female chief has
had a chance to do."