RaShall Brackney is Jackson’s new police chief after the Jackson City Council approved Jackson Mayor John Horhn’s appointed candidate in a 6-to-1 vote on Feb. 24.
Brackney brings over three decades of experience from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, which prepared her to take the role as the police chief in Charlottesville, Virginia, and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is also an academic and holds a doctorate in instructional management and leadership.
“This has been a long and arduous process. It’s been well-thought-out. It’s been a grueling process, but in the end, we think that we have found the right candidate and the right selection to lead our law enforcement efforts in the city of Jackson,” Horhn said at a press conference Tuesday.
The new police chief’s appointment comes after the previous police chief, Joseph Wade, retired on Aug. 26, 2025. After a months-long search, Dr. Brackney was the only woman of four finalists selected by Horhn.
“Jackson, I am so excited. I have understood my entire life that public safety does not happen in a vacuum. It is not one single police department, not one single public safety agency that can do this work. The most important part of the equation is the community—the people that live in the community [and] the people that are served by this community,” Brackney said.
Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote was the lone vote against Brackney’s confirmation.
“She’s much too educated and too charming to be police chief,” Mississippi Today reported him saying after voting against her.
Brackney will begin her role on April 1 as the third woman police chief to serve the city of Jackson.