Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Major Jesse Epperson is taking a new step forward in his Suffolk Police Department journey.

Major Epperson joins Major Cassandra Garvin (Deputy Chief of Investigations) and Major John McCarley (Deputy Chief of Operations) as Deputy Chief of Administration for SPD. Epperson was appointed by Chief of Police James “Danny” Buie, serving officially since Wednesday, Aug. 7. 

Epperson spoke with Suffolk News-Herald to discuss the appointment, his goals for continuing to keep Suffolk safe, and much more. Calling the role a “pretty big step careerwise,” Epperson emphasized the importance of the three Deputy Chiefs’ teamwork to help manage the SPD divisions.

“We each have our areas of responsibility for Operations, Investigations and Administration, but we all have to work together to make everything continue to move in the right direction,” Epperson said. “It’s good to work with people that you’ve worked with for a very long time and some people you’ve come up with through the department. So, having those relationships makes it a whole lot easier internally.”

Serving as Acting Deputy Chief since September 2023, Epperson’s new role will see him take official command of Suffolk Animal Control alongside Administration and Professional Standards. Administration will have him control areas such as essential records, emergency communications, fugitive unit, finance and budget, while Professional Standards will deal with training, accreditation, internal affairs, and inspections. Serving SPD since 2006, Epperson originally started working with the city through Parks and Recreation, waiting until he was old enough to serve SPD.

“That has really worked out extremely well for me in my career as well, because those people that I worked with back then, I still work with now,” Epperson said. “They still know me, I still know them. So even having those relationships for all those years back still are very relevant today.”

This eventually saw Epperson grow within the department, taking on various capacities such as uniform patrol, investigator and sergeant with the Neighborhood Enforcement Team, Internal Affairs sergeant, Special Investigations Section lieutenant, captain of Operations — Precinct 1, and captain of Administration. Likewise, Epperson is also commander of the Underwater Search and Recovery Team and Honor Guard. He discussed the personal side of support as a lifelong Suffolk resident.

“All my family is in Suffolk, my wife’s a school teacher in Suffolk, my kids go to Suffolk Public Schools, so having that personal support at home allows work to be much easier,” he said. “They kind of go hand and hand with each other because none of us can be successful without having that personal support from family and having a supportive wife and kids that want to come to police functions and they want to come to the different things and be involved…so it works out very well to have all those things work together.”

Epperson discussed his main goals as Deputy Chief of Administration, which are to keep Suffolk safe.

“…I have a goal to ensure that the police department recruits and retains the highest quality police officers and communication operators in the Commonwealth,” he said. “We also have to leverage as much reasonable technology and initiatives as possible to increase efficiency without sacrificing the quality of our service. Finally, we must continue to maintain and build new relationships with our community.”

In the physically and mentally taxing role of law enforcement, Epperson says understanding the nobility of the role and helping move the department forward in his new role helps him move forward.

“Being in a position to be part of those discussions that brings in new initiatives, listens to new ideas and moves the police department forward to better serve the citizens and keep them safe and make the city an even more attractive place for people to live and play,” Epperson said. “It takes a balance. You got to have that work-life balance. All of your life doesn’t revolve around policing, so you have to have that balance. Many professions are stressful, you’ve got deadlines and things you [have] to do. So understanding that there’s some things more important than others, and you have to prioritize them, but also having that support structure at home.”

He continued.

“…Not all stress is bad, some stress is good, but keeping yourself mentally prepared for things that will happen. And obviously, in this position of this side of the police department, what I have to deal with is a little bit different than a line officer. But, you’re still a police officer, so anything can happen…”

In a message to the Suffolk residents, Epperson says that, as a citizen himself, he expects SPD officers to be professional and responsible for all their duties.

“Police play a very forward facing role in the city. The police are one of the most accessible forms of local government. You see them everywhere you go, so it is this police department’s responsibility to protect the citizens, first and foremost, and enhance everybody’s quality of life. But, it is our job as the command staff of the department to make sure those officers have everything they need to provide for the citizens,” Epperson said. “As we move further into the 21st Century, we’re over halfway through 2024–which is crazy to think that it’s August already–that we have to rely on our technology, that we have the most technologically advanced police department to best serve our citizens, that we have the best trained officers to be up-to-date on everything that is going on around them, and to have the best response to the citizens that there can be.”

Likewise, Epperson emphasized the importance of technology expanding beyond SPD, noting Emergency Communications, which provides for Suffolk Fire and Rescue services.

“That has to be the best that there can be, and we’ve seen so much development over the last year and some change there where we know that when somebody calls 911, we’re going to have Communication Operators answer the phone and get an officer or a Fire and Rescue personnel there as quickly as possible,” he said. “It’s not just police, it’s making sure that we have the best available technology and services available to provide to the citizens, as well as with Animal Control. Because we have 430 square miles to cover, and there are a lot of animals. We got to be able to make sure our Animal Control officers get there and can take the best care that we can of our canine and feline companions, and everything else in between.”