Ole Miss university police chief resigns

This will be Tim Potts’ last week serving as the chief of police for the University Police Department.

Potts has accepted a position as police chief for Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, he told The Daily Mississippian in an email.

“I don’t look at it as leaving Ole Miss,” Potts said. “I love this place. The department is fantastic. I couldn’t work with a better group of people or have a better support system.”

He said there is no reason for him leaving other than the chance to be near his family. He is from Indiana, and his daughter still lives there.

“This is simply about the opportunity about getting closer to family, nothing more and nothing less,” Potts said. “There are no issues or complaints I had, and it wasn’t a financial decision, simply the chance to be with family. You never get time back, and that is something that Ole Miss just could not overcome.”

Potts took on the police chief position here in June 2015 after spending 13 years as captain of Purdue University’s police department. He said working at Ole Miss the past few of years has been phenomenal.

“I will forever be part of the University of Mississippi and will forever be grateful for the opportunity they provided me to guide such a tremendous team of individuals at UPD,” Potts said. “The university is in good hands.”

The university has posted the job opening for UPD police chief to its website.

– Lana Ferguson