In a special-called meeting, the Starkville Board of Aldermen voted to suspend Police Chief Frank Nichols.
The vote came after entering into executive session to discuss personnel.
Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill said Nichols is suspended without pay.
“All I will say is that Chief Nichols has been placed on administrative leave for two weeks,” Spruill said.
No reason was given to Nichols suspension, and he will serve a six-month probation period when he returns.
Captain Troy Outlaw will serve as interim SPD chief for the suspense period.
In 1992, Nichols began policing in Starkville as a patrolman, and he went on to be appointed chief of police in 2014. He has an associate’s degree in art from East Mississippi Community College, a bachelor’s of science degree from MSU and master’s of science in criminal justice degree from Troy University.
Nichols is also a graduate from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Army National Guard, Nichols was deployed to Operation Desert Shield in 1990 and Operation Iraqi Freedom III in 2005.
The interim chief, Outlaw, is from Starkville and currently serves as operations captain. He started working for SPD in 1992.
In 1994, Outlaw was assigned to the investigations division, and was promoted to sergeant in 1996. Two years later, he was assigned as patrol supervisor.
In 2004, Outlaw was promoted to lieutenant and re-assigned to the investigations division, where he served as chief of detectives. The following year, he received his bachelors degree in criminal justice from Troy State Distance Learning.
In 2006, Outlaw returned to patrolling as the patrol commander. Five years later, he began serving as chief of detectives once again. In 2014, Outlaw was promoted to captain and served as the administrative captain. Last year, he was re-assigned to the patrol division, serving as the operations’ captain and also as a member of the chief of police’s command staff.
Attempts to reach the Starkville Police Department for comment were not returned by The Reflector’s deadline.