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Holmes County native Michael Stamps has been named the new Chief of Police at the Ridgeland Campus.
Stamps, who grew up in Tchula, comes to Holmes after 18 years at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where he oversaw law enforcement duties at all UMMC locations in Jackson along with hospitals and Clinics in Lexington and Grenada. Prior to being named chief at UMMC, he also served as captain and sergeant.
He is a graduate of S.V. Marshall High School in Tchula and the Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Academy in Pearl. He holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice from Kaplan University.
“I was attracted to this job because of my personal connection with Holmes County,” Stamps said. “I was born and raised in Tchula. I have always wanted to attend Holmes Community College upon completing high school at S.V. Marshall. My goal was to play football at Holmes; however, a back injury prevented me from pursuing this goal, and I was forced to take a different path. I was offered a band scholarship, but that was not something I wanted to pursue and I passed on it. Looking back, I don’t think that was a good decision, however as a young man, that has not been the worst decision I have made since then.
“I decided to apply for the Chief of Police job because the person I am today is the result of growing up in Holmes County,” he said. “My desire to be close to the people I know, grew up with and missed seeing has been on my mind for years. I wanted to get that feeling of being at home again.”
Prior to working at UMMC, he worked for the Greenwood Police Department for 10 years. He was a narcotics lieutenant, crisis response team commander and a hostage negotiator.
“As the former Chief of Police with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, I learned the value of having strong interpersonal relationship with the people I work with, work for and serve,” Stamps said. “Although UMMC was a much larger campus with many operational dynamics, I was able to navigate the landmines and build a very good police department. The Chief of Police job required me to exercise calculated and methodical approaches to problem-solving, which proven to be the most valuable tool in my arsenal.
“This opportunity to become Chief of Police at Holmes CC was especially exciting for me as my professional goals aligned with Holmes mission and values. Plus, it was much smaller police department and significantly less issues to deal with. Getting selected as Chief of Holmes meant I could finally get a good night’s rest and a full weekend off.”
“Throughout my law enforcement career, I have dedicated myself to serving the public with integrity and honor,” he said. “I swore to serve and protect all citizens of the State of Mississippi, rich or poor, black or white, regardless of their status in the community. To achieve this goal, I had to place great demands upon myself and be willing to endure the challenges that would come before me.
“Communities must be assured that police departments had their best interest in mind and officers needed to know the community needed them and truly appreciated their services,” he added. “This was a huge challenge for me and one I welcomed and had great success with. I could not have repaired these relationships without sacrifice, which meant letting my guard down, talking with the public rather than arresting them, offering them a different path other than jail, and by giving them the chance to observe normal conversation rather than being read their rights.”
He and his wife, Alberta, have two sons, Terrance, 25, and Adrian, 9 and one daughter, Nadia, 14. Terrance is a Holmes graduate while Adrian attends Mannsdale Elementary School in Madison and Nadia attends Germantown High School.
He is a member of New Horizon Church.
His hobbies include football, fishing and having quiet time sitting on the back porch.
