After 23 years of service with the Starkville Police Department, John Outlaw was promoted as Starkville’s very first assistant police chief. The haranguing over the irony of his last name compared with the position Outlaw plays in society is unceasing.
“When I went to the academy I got placed in a book of strange names,” Outlaw said. “I get a lot about my last name, a lot.”
The mayor, Board of Aldermen and Starkville Police Chief David Lindley named Outlaw assistant police chief on Jan. 15. Outlaw was originally in competition against Lindley for the position of chief.
“His (0Outlaw’s) years of experience and training make him qualified to fulfill my duties when I’m gone,” Lindley said. “Having an assistant chief makes for a clear cut chain of command.”
Outlaw has spent his entire career as a police officer with the Starkville Police Department. Other posts he has held are patrolman, sergeant and lieutenant.
Outlaw said his current duties are to oversee the police department in its entirety which includes, patrol, drugs, administrative matters, training, disciplinary actions and speaking engagements.
“I’m the chief’s right hand,” Outlaw said.
His career plan after graduating from college was not to be a police officer, but to go to veterinary school. After he graduated from Mississippi State University one of his friends asked him if he would like to be a police officer. Outlaw said that he thought the guy was crazy at first, but later interviewed for a job and took it.
“The more I worked, the more I liked it,” Outlaw said. “The more training I got, the better officer I became. Something inside me snapped and I decided to make it a career.”
A city dominated by college students doesn’t make for an above average dangerous atmosphere, according to Outlaw.
“Ninety-five percent of kids don’t cause problems,” he said. “A few kids can give the campus a bad name. Some kids drink and drive causing loss of life or loss of limbs. Kids make mistakes and have to live through them and go on.”
Drinking, drugs and theft of public property are Outlaw’s greatest concerns in the Starkville community. He said these crimes have declined recently, but there is room for considerable improvement.
Crime is not a rare obstacle to Outlaw, and he has looked death in the face on several occasions.
“When you think you’re going to die you don’t have that much time to think,” he said. “Your mind races, and you think that you might not ever see your family again. The next day you might drive by a funeral and think that could be your funeral.”
The danger of being a police officer is off set out by the reward the job brings, according to Outlaw.
“When you go to the drug abuse resistance education speaking engagements you talk to the kids and see their eyes light up when you talk to them about things they shouldn’t do,” Outlaw said. “It’s rewarding to catch criminals and provide relief to the victims.”
Trying times have also been a part of Outlaw’s career. He said being a public official is a big responsibility.
“As a public official you can’t let yourself drop,” Outlaw said. “Any little thing you do can make you seem hostile or prejudiced. People will call you a brute.
“Sometimes as a public official you do things that you think are funny and look back and see that they were dumb. Sometimes in your career it comes back and haunts you.”
“Chief Lindley and myself can do great things together,” Outlaw said.