3 Things Your Police Chief Wishes You Knew…

Beth Lindsey-WRJW Morning Drive Host

This is the first article in a series I’m calling “Wish You Knew”. I will be interviewing leaders in the community and sharing their thoughts. They are often so busy working for us that they don’t always have time to sit down with each individual person. I’m trying to help them share the messages they want to send to the community and to you – the individual citizens that make up this beautiful area.

On August 2, 2023, I sat down with Picayune Chief of Police, Joe Quave and he was “sweating bullets”!

He had just taken a break from a lively kickball game with a few officers and several children at The Crosby Commons during National Night Out on Crime.

I asked him if there was anything that he wished his community knew about him, his officers, or his line of work. The very first thing he said was that he wanted to talk about “our” officers. He said there are three main points he wishes the community would remember…

1. They are Human. Chief Quave said this is the biggest thing police officers have in common with you. “They’re husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. They have families and aren’t exempt from tragedies. Many have experienced serious illnesses, family emergencies, and life-changing situations outside their control. While not only dealing with issues of their own lives and trying to handle the problems in their own communities, they still answer the call the serve.” He mentioned that, on average, any one person will experience 2 critical incidents in their lifetime. However, it feels like the average police officer will experience around 800. They deal with all their things, our things, and still push forward with improving Picayune.

2. They Care. The Chief shared with me about several events this past year and upcoming events. He’s sincerely invested in making sure the community knows he and his officers are available to help us toward a better today and a better future. He said “Believe it or not, they don’t want everyone they arrest to go to prison. Sure, there are people that belong there, but they want to see the addict get treatment, people turn their lives around, and families reunited.” He continued, “If you’re hurting, more than likely they are too. If you experience a tragic event, the situation probably isn’t as personal, but they still witness it and go through a lot of the same emotions.” I was truly blown away with his description of how the Picayune Police Department often goes above and beyond the duties within their shifts. He brought up how often people never hear about it, but officers have brought food for people, paid for gas, given people rides to Dr. appointments, etc.

“The things officers do for people they come in contact with is really endless.”

3. They Work HARD. “This is a busy town!” Picayune averages THOUSANDS of calls per month – many of which require follow-ups and thorough investigations.

He continued “In recent months, we’ve noticed people that have committed crimes have also done so in other jurisdictions, too. The work our officers do has brought some crimes to light in other places and helped other agencies solve crimes.”

I’ll end this with one more quote from Chief Quave about the officers of The Picayune Police Department…It’s so perfect…

“They really take crime personally and do everything they can to provide justice for victims.”

Picayune Police Department is located at 328 S Main St, Picayune MS 39466. They also have a Facebook page “Picayune Police Department” and Chief Quave has a Facebook page as well “Chief Joe Quave”. For more information, they can be contacted at (601) 798-4682. However, in case of emergency, please dial 9-1-1.