Public Safety, Department of

The Department of Public Safety consists of eight units that provide law enforcement and security for Mississippi's citizens: Highway Safety Patrol, Bureau of Narcotics, Office of Homeland Security, Forensics Laboratory, State Medical Examiner's Office, Law Enforcement Officers' Training Academy, Support Services, and Office of Public Safety Planning. The Commissioner of Public Safety publishes an annual report of accomplishments for the fiscal year (July 1 - June 30). The Department of Archives and History has paper copies of the report from 1970 through 1997 and electronic (PDF) reports dating from 2017.

This is a collection of records transferred from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to the Department of Archives and History in March 2026. The files document Commissioner Thomas Butler (T. B.) Birdsong’s response to civil rights events in Mississippi during the early 1960s. Of primary interest are Birdsong’s files and correspondence related to the Freedom Rides during the summer of 1961. Individuals throughout the country sent letters expressing support for and opposition to Commissioner Birdsong’s statements regarding the Freedom Riders. There are also nine folders of Freedom Riders’ arrest records and mug shots, which appear to be duplicates of material found in the State Sovereignty Commission Records. A few memoranda also mention James Meredith’s March Against Fear in 1966. The bulk of the material is newspaper clippings related to the Civil Rights Movement, and also general articles of interest to DPS at the time. All pages were scanned and can be accessed here. The original documents can be viewed in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building. Ku Klux Klan related documents transferred by DPS are also available for research.