First Responders: Officer Keith Moody

MARION, Miss. (WTOK) - Our latest First Responder is Keith Moody. He works in Marion and the Meridian Police Department.

“It’s not a get rich job. You’ve got to want to do it and you’ve got to want to get up and come back every day,” Moody said.

With more than 20 years in public service Officer Keith Moody says he just kind of fell into it.

“I was looking for something full-time and a job at E-911 for Lauderdale County came up. I got into that and became a dispatcher,” Moody said.

Moody also became an EMT, reserve officer and a volunteer firefighter. He currently volunteers in Suqualena. He finally landed on being a full-time police officer in Meridian and now a part-time officer in Marion.

“I went part-time and did that for a little while. I took the Civil Service exam, got hired and went to the academy. Now I’ve been doing it all these years,” Moody said.

For Moody it’s simple, he likes being the person helping others.

“My pet-peeves are children and the elderly. I hate to see them mistreated because they can’t help themselves,” Moody explained. “It’s rewarding every time you get to help someone like that. The people you work with stand behind each other and it’s just a big family thing.”

Moody says he likes patrolling the streets because he gets to see what’s going on.

“A lot of times you’re short-handed and you don’t get there right when people expect you to get there. The long and short of it is that everybody loves what they do,” Moody said.

With full support from his family throughout his career, Moody said he believes he will continue being an officer for a few more years to come, at least until he achieves state retirement.

“Hopefully I can make it to that and we will see what happens after that. I could stay or go on to something else. Whatever the case may be,” Moody said.

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