Senate Concurrent Resolution 560

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE OF FRENCH CAMP POLICE CHIEF ANTHONY LUCAS.

WHEREAS, Choctaw County and the State of Mississippi are in shock after a police pursuit ended in the murder of French Camp Police Chief Anthony D. Lucas on Friday, February 4, 2005. As shock turned to grief, the Ackerman Community paid respects to a beloved officer and friend; and

WHEREAS, officers gathered to grieve for a man whom by his death at age 32 had worked for the Ackerman Police Department, the French Camp Police, the Choctaw County Sheriff's Department and the Department of Corrections; and

WHEREAS, Lucas was killed when a police chase ended with gunfire at a home in Weir, Mississippi. Law officers say Lucas' death hits close to home. It's something that is taken for granted. But law enforcement is a dangerous profession; and

WHEREAS, friends say from the time he was a boy, Anthony Lucas dreamed of working in law enforcement. This was what he enjoyed, this is what he loved; it was his lifelong dream; and

WHEREAS, Lucas is survived by his wife, Penny, and five-year-old son, Kyle; parents, Brenda and Wendell Lucas (Wendell is a Mississippi Conservation Officer); and sister, Aimee Oakes. Officers in Choctaw County say young Kyle Lucas will always have a proud father smiling down on him; and

WHEREAS, Anthony Lucas worked full time as a Parole and Probation Officer for the Mississippi Department of Corrections and had been with the state agency for seven years, and he was an outstanding Corrections Field Officer. Prior to this duty he served as Choctaw County Deputy Sheriff and worked as a Lab Technician and a Wildlife Manager; and

WHEREAS, Chief Lucas was a graduate of Ackerman High School and Mississippi State University; the family attended Blythe Creek Baptist Church; and

WHEREAS, Anthony was loved in his community, as shown by the outpouring of sympathy, and we join his family and neighbors in mourning for this dedicated Mississippi public servant who loved helping people:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby commend the life of French Camp Police Chief Anthony D. Lucas, who was killed in the line of duty on February 4, 2005, and express to his surviving family the sympathy of the Legislature on his passing.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the family of Anthony Lucas and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.