Continuing to honor International Women Month, for the first time the City of Hattiesburg's Police Department is lead by a woman, Peggy Sealy. Sealy, who was then Assistant Chief to now retired Chief Anthony Parker, took over effective January 1, 2021 after Parker officially retired. Sealy was appointed by Mayor Toby Barker, who's currently up for re-election, to serve as Interim Chief of Police, commanding one of the most powerful police forces in the state.
The appointment received gratitude from the Hattiesburg Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #55. In a statement, the police organization said her appointment "sets the stage for the Hattiesburg Police Department to regain its position as one of the top agencies in the State of Mississippi and the Southeast Region."
Sealy started with Hattiesburg Police Department as a meter maid in 1988. 4 years later, she passed the police academy to become an officer. Often times referred to as gentle and very polite, her beauty on the outside shines from within which in part showed during her skills when she served as the Special Tactics and Rescue Team's hostage negotiator. She went back to the academy to help train other officers, serving as the academy training instructor.
Her career expanded as Sealy became a Sergeant and oversaw the city's detective division, solving hard cases and crimes. She then began to police the police. As her influence grew so did her power. She then became lieutenant of the Internal Affairs, going from investigating citizens to investigating officers themselves from complaints to misconduct.
All that hard work finally paid off. Sealy came back from retirement in 2017 and was appointed Assistant Chief of Police. A long road from once serving as commander of the patrol department to being apart of the upper brass and the number 2 in command of the Hattiesburg Police Department.
Women make up 12.6% of sworn police officers in the United States. Women entered the criminal justice system in the 1800's as prison matrons. Things began to change in the 1960s and 70s. However, it wasn't to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that made it much more harder for men to discriminate against woman in the work place that women in the policing field saw major promotions.
Sealy, a servant of the people, has served the Hattiesburg community for over 3 decades. Sources say she's humble, polite, community oriented, and lead by example. Sealy is a JCJC and Arizona State University Alumni.
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