Lee Vance

by Maggie Burks
Photo by Kenya A. Hudson
January 9, 2008

Jackson Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance sits at a small table in his office, hands clasped together, as he precisely chooses the words to describe his Jackson upbringing and adulthood. Behind him on the walls are two 24-by-36-inch posters of Muhammad Ali, whom Vance considers a personal hero despite his flaws. He is cautious to not interrupt his story, but when JPD needs a representative at a city meeting, he pauses to find a replacement.

“Let me call Tyrone (Lewis),” Vance says. “I’ll be like Erykah Badu.” He belts out a jolly fit of laughter that makes his shoulders bob up and down and his eyes close tightly. It is startling to see such a strong, hearty laugh come from a man who usually carries a solemn demeanor.

Vance, 49, grew up on Wood Street for most of his adolescence, often making the short walk to Jackson State football games at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium. He graduated from Lanier High School in 1976. “Only two types of people,” he says. “Either you went to Lanier or you wanted to go.”

Vance attended Jackson State as a communication major, but 10 hours shy of a degree, he took a hiatus to work the night shift at UPS. He planned to return after a semester, but when his daughter graduated from JSU in 2005, he had not yet completed his college education.

“It’s always been very troublesome to me that I was basically college-educated, but I didn’t have a degree to show for it. So it was something that I always felt a bit of an empty space and sad about,” he says.

Last spring, Vance returned to JSU to complete the required classes to obtain his degree, and hopes to graduate sometime this year. College looks a lot different than it did in 1981, and trying to balance his class schedule with the movement in JPD makes the endeavor all the more challenging; but Vance says that fellow officers in the department have been understanding.

“It means a lot to me, not only to get the four-year degree, but to get it from Jackson State. I’ll be honest with you, I could be offered a degree from Harvard, and it wouldn’t mean as much to me as a degree from Jackson State,” he says.

Vance says that while he is sometimes the oldest person in the classroom—including the professor—he has been able to see a different side of the younger generation than he does working as a police officer.

“This generation has gotten a bad rap,” Vance says. “Most young people that I deal with have gone down the wrong path, so it’s refreshing to me to see some that are going down the right path.”

posted by eargasism on 01/11/08 at 11:56 AM

posted by uncle willie on 01/11/08 at 04:18 PM

posted by classy on 01/14/08 at 09:36 AM

posted by dd39203 on 01/14/08 at 10:24 AM

posted by lanier77 on 01/25/08 at 12:42 PM