City Spotlight: Police Chief Otha Brown

By Inesha Jackson

Police Chief and native of Canton Otha Brown is striving to bring justice and peace to the Canton community, one crime at a time. Otha Brown was born and raised in Canton, Mississippi, to O.C. and Shirley Brown in 1968. He attended and graduated from Canton High School in 1986. Born with a desire to serve, he went on to join law enforcement in 1994 and graduated from the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers’ Training Academy (MLEOTA) in Pearl, Mississippi. 

After graduating from MLEOTA, Brown returned and pursued a career as a police officer for the City of Canton from 1994 to 1999. When Brown proved his ability to be a leader, he was promoted to sergeant. He eventually was able to secure his current role as police chief for the community that he knows and loves. Brown has measured his success by accomplishing his lifetime goal of becoming a police chief and through the many responsibilities that came with it.

“I’ve been police chief for eight years in the City of Canton, and my job comes with great responsibility. As police chief, my job requires me to follow and uphold policies, procedures, budgeting, etc. I also enjoy overseeing all operations of the police department and keeping members of the community safe on a day to day basis,” Police Chief Brown said. 

Despite being on many exciting and challenging assignments as a police officer, sergeant, and now as chief, ensuring the safety and happiness of men and women of the Canton Police Department as well as citizens of Canton are Chief Brown’s utmost priority. 

“The best part of being police chief is knowing that my officers are happy and the city is happy with the job that I’m doing,” Chief Brown said. 

Citizens can look at Chief Brown’s career and learn that the acts of showing respect and caring for all people can take them a long way in life.

“I care for all people, regardless of their race. Whether they’re black, white, hispanic, and so on, I look out for general welfare of all people. I make sure that young men and women are doing the right things with positive attitudes about life,” Chief Brown said. 

In a joint effort to lower crime rates, Chief Brown would like citizens to get more involved in the community through spreading positivity.