—Kerry Hill, B1Daily

A Mississippi police department already facing intense scrutiny over the fatal police shooting of a Black toddler has been thrown into another controversy after its chief was fired following reports that he repeatedly used racist slurs in private text messages.

The Senatobia Board of Aldermen unanimously fired Police Chief Harold Vanderford on September 1, according to reporting by the Associated Press and Mississippi Today. Vanderford had submitted a resignation earlier that day, but city officials rejected the resignation and terminated him instead.

The firing followed a joint investigation by Mississippi Today, Verite News and The New York Times that obtained a series of private text conversations attributed to Vanderford. Reporters said the messages contained repeated use of racist language directed toward Black people, including use of the N-word more than a dozen times across 10 conversations. The messages reportedly stretched from the summer of 2025 into Vanderford’s tenure as police chief. Multiple acquaintances confirmed that the phone number associated with the messages belonged to Vanderford.

Vanderford did not provide a public response to the outlets’ requests for comment about his firing.

A Department Already Under Scrutiny

The controversy carries additional weight because the Senatobia Police Department was already facing serious questions over the June 14 death of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, a Black toddler.

Police were responding to an alleged shoplifting incident at a Walmart when an officer fired into a vehicle, killing Kohen and wounding the woman driving the vehicle. Kohen’s mother has denied that she or her friend stole anything, and authorities have not charged either woman. The officer involved was placed on administrative leave while the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation investigates the shooting.

That investigation remains unfinished.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Kohen’s family, said Vanderford’s removal was appropriate but argued that it does not resolve the unanswered questions surrounding the child’s death. Crump has continued demanding release of the body-camera footage and completion of the investigation.

The department has faced other controversies involving Black residents as well. In 2023, Senatobia police arrested a 10-year-old Black boy after he urinated in public, generating national criticism. Another incident involved an officer pulling a Black woman from her vehicle during a dispute involving a handicapped parking space.

Questions About Department Culture

The revelations about Vanderford have consequently produced questions extending beyond one man’s private messages.

Alderman Chris McConnell has called for an independent investigation into the department, including its leadership, internal culture, treatment of misconduct complaints, financial practices and the information provided to the city’s elected oversight officials.

Those questions became particularly significant after Mississippi Today reported that the officer involved in Kohen’s shooting had separately faced complaints alleging racially offensive remarks toward coworkers before the shooting. The outlet reported that there was no indication Vanderford disciplined the officer over those complaints.

None of that by itself establishes what happened during the shooting of Kohen Wiley. That remains the subject of a separate investigation.

But it does explain why community members are demanding that investigators examine more than the actions of a single officer.

The controversy is now about whether problems existed within the department’s broader culture and whether city leadership provided adequate oversight.

City Leaders Initially Kept Vanderford

Perhaps the strangest turn came before Vanderford’s firing.

After the racist-text reporting emerged, Vanderford appeared before city leaders in closed-door meetings. On August 25, the city issued a statement indicating that Vanderford had answered questions and would continue serving as police chief.

That position didn’t last.

Less than a week later, Vanderford attempted to resign and the Board of Aldermen went further, unanimously firing him.

Lt. Angelica Maze has been appointed interim police chief while Senatobia searches for permanent leadership.

Replacing the chief, however, addresses only one part of Senatobia’s problem.

The city still faces unresolved questions surrounding Kohen Wiley’s death, demands for greater transparency and allegations concerning the internal culture of its police department.

Firing a chief can remove a leader.

Determining whether the problems went deeper than that will require an investigation into the institution he was leading.

—Kerry Hill, B1Daily