The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is an administrative department of the Government of Mississippi , headquartered in Jackson . It is responsible for the state Highway Patrol and commercial vehicle enforcement; specialized investigations and controlled drugs and substances enforcement; issuing driver's licenses and firearms permits; and the state Capitol Police.
19-462: Rankin County may refer to: Rankin County, Mississippi , United States Rankin County, New South Wales , Australia [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
38-734: A $ 400M lawsuit against Sheriff Bryan Bailey and six deputies. In late June, the Sheriff announced that some deputies involved had been terminated or resigned from their jobs, and that the department hired a "compliance officer" to monitor the Sheriff department's daily operations. An investigation by the Associated Press determined that the Sheriff's Special Response Team had been involved in four violent incidents with African-Americans since 2019, resulting in two deaths. Pearl Public School District and Rankin County School District are
57-707: A Rankin Campus in Pearl. 32°16′N 89°57′W / 32.26°N 89.95°W / 32.26; -89.95 Mississippi Department of Public Safety The position of "Commissioner of Public Safety" was first created in 1938, with the establishment of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol. The Department expanded in the early 1970s, when the Bureau of Narcotics was established in 1971 to conduct specialized enforcement and carry out investigations into
76-517: A force multiplier for the municipal Jackson Police Department, which had experienced prolonged staffing shortages. The Mississippi Highway Patrol, formally called the Highway Safety Patrol, is led by a director at the rank of colonel. The director also serves as assistant commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. The Highway Patrol is responsible for general policing on highways across
95-452: Is centered on a January 24, 2023, incident where deputies searched the house of Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker. Jenkins and Parker, both African-Americans, experienced six deputies turning-off their body cameras, torturing the men for two hours, shocking them with tasers, repeatedly shouting racial slurs, and shooting one of them in the mouth. All accused officers pled guilty and were convicted. In June 2023, Jenkins and Parker filed
114-724: Is in Whitfield in unincorporated Rankin County. It occupies the former Rankin Farm prison grounds. In 1935, the Mississippi State Insane Asylum moved from a complex of 19th-century buildings in northern Jackson , the capital, to its current location. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality operates the Central Regional Office and the MDEQ Laboratory in unincorporated Rankin County. Rankin County
133-424: Is one of the most conservative counties in the state, with Republican candidates normally receiving 70% or so of the popular vote. The county last supported the official Democratic candidate for president in 1956, which is also the last time a Democrat got even 40 percent of the county's vote. While conservative Democrats held most local offices well into the 1980s, today there are almost no elected Democrats left above
152-745: The Central Mississippi Correctional Facility (CMCF), located in unincorporated Rankin County. CMCF houses the state's female death row inmates. MDOC also operates the Brandon Probation and Parole Office in Brandon . In 2007 the Mississippi Highway Patrol opened a driver's license facility across the highway from the prison. The Mississippi State Hospital of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health
171-473: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 806 square miles (2,090 km ), of which 775 square miles (2,010 km ) is land and 31 square miles (80 km ) (3.8%) is water. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 157,031 people, 57,011 households, and 39,676 families residing in the county. Jackson Evers International Airport is located in unincorporated Rankin County. The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) operates
190-631: The U.S. state of Mississippi . The western border of the county is formed by the Pearl River . As of the 2020 census , the population was 157,031, making it the fourth-most populous county in Mississippi. The county seat is Brandon . The county is named in honor of Christopher Rankin , a Mississippi Congressman who served from 1819 to 1826. Rankin County is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area . According to
209-525: The Department of Finance and Administration's Capitol Police Office. The expansion also adjusted the duties of some DPS divisions: the Bureau of Investigation became responsible for investigating all police-involved shootings (excluding those involving a member of the Highway Safety Patrol); members of the Highway Safety Patrol became responsible for conducting speed enforcement operations and running radar on interstate highways within large cities; and
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#1732847978207228-463: The Highway Safety Patrol. The Bureau of Narcotics is an independent DPS agency responsible for enforcing regulations and legislation concerning the "abuse, misuse, sale, and trafficking of controlled substances." The Bureau is led by a director at the rank of colonel, appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety. The Office of Capitol Police is an independent DPS agency responsible for policing
247-583: The Office of Capitol Police's patrol area grew to include not just state government buildings but an 8.7 square mile swath of land including downtown Jackson, Jackson State University, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and residential and commercial neighbourhoods including a portion of Fondren, a "trendy enclave with a popular restaurant scene." Within this expanded patrol area, the Capitol Police acted as
266-526: The abuse, trafficking, manufacturing, and mishandling of controlled substances. Initially under the control of the State Board of Health, the Bureau of Narcotics was transferred over to the control of the Department of Public Safety in 1972. In 2021, the Department expanded again, absorbing the Department of Transportation's enforcement division, which became the DPS' Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division and
285-712: The county level. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety operates the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy (MLEOTA) on a 243-acre (98 ha) property in Rankin County, near CMCF and the MSH, 10 miles (16 km) from Jackson. In February 2023, the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into conduct of the Rankin County Sheriffs department. The investigation
304-403: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rankin_County&oldid=933078665 " Category : County name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Rankin County, Mississippi Rankin County is a county located in
323-508: The state Criminal Information Centre, investigating cases of human trafficking, inspecting salvage vehicles, operating the state's Victim Assistance Program, and providing executive protection to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House. Since 2021, the Bureau has also been responsible for investigating police shootings in the state, with the exception of shootings involving members of
342-521: The state, investigating major incidents through its Bureau of Investigations, issuing driver's licenses and firearms permits through its Driver Service Bureau, and some commercial vehicle enforcement. The Bureau of Investigations is led by a Lieutenant Colonel of the Highway Safety Patrol, and its membership is composed of officers seconded from the Patrol. The Bureau is responsible for assisting local agencies in conducting complex investigations, maintaining
361-597: The two public school districts located in the county. The former includes the Pearl city limits, and the latter includes all other areas in Rankin County. Private schools located in the county are Hartfield Academy in Flowood, Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Park Place Christian Academy in Pearl, and East Rankin Academy in Pelahatchie. Rankin County is in the district of Hinds Community College . The college operates
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