IPD Chief Edrick Hall says he’s moving on from law enforcement after last day
Indianola's leading law enforcement officer says he wants to spend the next shift in his life "under the radar."
IPD Police Chief Edrick Hall confirmed on Monday that he has tendered his letter of resignation to the city officials and will effectively leave office on Feb. 14.
Hall, a 23-year law enforcement veteran who also has six years of military experience, said that his decision to resign did not come easily but was derived after much prayer, contemplation and conversations with trusted friends whose opinions he values.
He said the past few months, especially since the loss of his mother, have been very trying and losing her is something that he still deals with daily.
Likely one of the most seminal factors in his choice was remembering how his mother had begged him over the past decade or so to give up law enforcement and seek a new career path.
He said she was concerned about the direction law enforcement in general was heading.
"That played the most in it," Hall said.
He also mentioned wanting to spend more time caring for close family members who are dealing with health issues and being more available for his children, including a new bundle of joy that is expected to make an arrival in early spring.
Hall dispelled any notions that any city official played a role in his decision to leave the force.
"No member of the board or the mayor has asked me to resign, no ruling or nothing that was said or nothing that the board or mayor has done made me resign," Hall said.
He added, "There have been some things that they've done that I disagree with. Did I grow tired of some of the meetings and some of the things that were going on? Yes.”
He explained. "I feel like, as a city, if we can put certain things to the side we should be a lot further than where we are in Indianola."
Hall said it's not about being the richest city in the state, but that Indianola has enough to be better off than where it is.
"And I'm not just talking about just from wealth, I'm talking about from people that want to see Indianola succeed," Hall said.
By way of example, he mentioned the body cameras that were donated by the town's merchants, the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center and more.
Hall said, "Indianola just embraces change, and all they need is the right leadership. And I am not saying we have the wrong leadership, I'm not endorsing or anything, I'm not saying right or wrong, I'm just saying we’ve all got to be on the same page, and that's what we are missing."
The exiting chief expressed his appreciation to the city leaders for having allowed him the opportunity to lead “a great department.”
"I wasn't able to please everybody during my tenure, but I did the best I could," Hall said.
When asked what he would have liked to accomplish during his tenure, Hall said, to have the department fully staffed.
It was one of the things he regretted not accomplishing while leading the department.
"Several times we came within (being) two to three officers short and then we had a flux and 4 or 5 would leave," Hall said.
He asserted that the department is currently short staffed and was in the process of developing plans to conduct an employment push to bring in new officers.
He said being short-staffed works for a brief time because the officers get a little overtime, which equates to extra money.
"But they get tired and they'll get burned out from policing and you'll find yourself losing your rookie officers because they are working too much and they don't have a good schedule/juggling of their time to have that (work-home) balance," he said.
Hall said another thing he really wanted to achieve was pay raises for some of the other officers, the dispatchers and secretary, Felicia Matthews.
"She's been there, rock solid, good, bad, indifferent; 1 or 2 in the morning, whenever I needed, she was always right there," Hall said.
He added, "Those are the things I really wanted to do to let the people know I appreciated them. I was able to get some of them raises, not all of them."
Hall said, "There's a long list of wishful things I would liked to have had, but at the end of the day it was always about just taking care of my people because I believed that if I took care of them they would take care of me."
Hall said he would make himself available to assist in any way that he can in whatever transition the city fathers decide to make.
He said although the board may not consider his recommendation, he strongly urges them to consider Assistant Chief Earnest Gilson as his permanent replacement.
"I've made it clear to the mayor; I included it in my letter of resignation. They have a man there I don't think they should overlook," Hall said.
Referencing Gilson, Hall said his assistant chief has given more than three decades of service to the city, has been loyal and had previously served as the interim chief on two other occasions.
"I really think they should look at giving Earnest Gilson the chief's job."
Hall added that many of the people in the community know Gilson and support him and that it would not be a hard transition for the current staff or the city leaders.
"I've never heard of anything that was done wrong while he was interim. I've never known of any issues that they may have had. I can't think of another person that has been with one agency that long. Who else knows the ends and outs better than him?" said Hall.
Hall said he's also hopeful that if Gilson is chosen that he will be able to look within the department and find someone who will make a good assistant chief and thereby continuing the process of hiring from within, so everybody gets a chance to move up and it is all done internal.
Hall said his departure basically came down to what was best for him.
"The community as a whole has always been favorable toward me and I am so appreciative. I'm not crazy, it was not 100 percent, but the 75-80% or 70-80%, they stuck with me they supported me."
Hall asserted, "It's just been a lot of prayer and it's just time for me to come out of law enforcement.” The departing chief emphasized that just like there are times when he will miss being in service to the city, there will also likely be times when he won't miss it.
Although he declined to go deep into his new career path, Hall said that it will not be in law enforcement and it will not deal with government. It will however be in the Delta.
"I'm just trying to continue to be there for my family and just go on and live my life the best I can under the radar now, to be just a regular citizen is my ultimate goal," Hall said.
