Lt. Adam Peacock Reflects on 26 Years in Law Enforcement

Peacock started his law enforcement career on the night shift with the Water Valley Police Department in 2001. He previously worked at a lumber yard right out of high school before a stint with the Water Valley Fire Department and joining the National Guard.

"I enjoyed working at Water Valley, but I wanted to go back to school," he said. "From 2 o'clock in the morning to like 5 or 6, you sat there and did nothing, and those late nights got me thinking that there's got to be something more to this."

A friend suggested that he try to get on with the University Police Department. He began working at Ole Miss filling a temporary position in the fall of 2002.

In December of that year, Peacock's National Guard unit, B Co., 223rd Engineering Battalion, was deployed to Iraq. He served as a combat engineer and was deployed again in 2009 and 2013.

"Basically, we cleared roadside bombs with this dozer and a road grader, and we were on the side of the roads clearing paths," he said. "We ran into quite a few IEDs."

While in Iraq, he learned that he was accepted as a full-time officer with UPD.

His unit came home in February 2004 and, following a university celebration for service members returning from Iraq, Peacock got back to work and began taking classes toward a degree in criminal justice. He graduated with his degree in 2020.

Capt. Jane Mahan has worked with Peacock for some 22 years.

"Lt. Peacock has always been his own unique person," she said. "Working with him has always been an experience. We've had our disagreements, plenty of serious moments and a lot of laughs along the way."

While merely touching the tip of the iceberg of his career, Peacock has experienced the good and the bad while at Ole Miss and has even saved a few lives – animal and human lives.

Known for his love of animals, the outdoors and hunting – he likes to hunt deer and turkey and go fishing – Peacock plans to have his own taxidermy shop during retirement.

"I respect the outdoors, wildlife," he said. "I don't think you should just kill something just because it's there."

He has also faced his share of wildlife on campus. He has wrangled with a cottonmouth snake, raccoons and even an American alligator.

"A few years ago, I got this phone call and the guy said, 'Hey, I'm pretty sure there's an alligator in one of your dorm rooms,'" he recalled. "'There's pictures going around on social media of some guys with an alligator in one of the dorms at Ole Miss.'"

After some sleuthing, Peacock and his team figured out in which residence hall was involved and began knocking on doors.

"They answered the door and the student said, 'I know why you're here, but the alligator's not in this room, but it's in another room,'" Peacock said. "And sure enough, this other student had an alligator in his closet."

Peacock had to call the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to remove what was determined to be a protected American alligator. The student housing the creature was heavily fined.

"It's one of the more memorable calls that sticks out," Peacock said.

One of the most trying times was the 2006 death of UPD officer Robert Langley.

"That was difficult to go through," he said. "There's just so many memories with him."

Throughout the years, as student fashions, campus geography and buildings all change, one thing that has remained constant is the culture of Ole Miss.

"The students have always been respectful; everybody's always helpful, looking to help somebody else," he said. "It's unbelievable how open people are to helping other folks on campus."

People are also willing to offer treats in the Grove.

"Another thing that I really enjoyed here was even though I was working, I still would get time to spend with family and friends in the Grove before a football game," he said. "I stopped and grabbed something to eat and hang out there for a little bit."

Peacock's colleagues say they will remember him as a caring, helpful coworker.

"If I had to describe him, I'd say he's someone who genuinely cares – about his family, his work and the people around him," Mahan said. "He's a veteran, he's served his community and he's done it in a way that doesn't seek attention."

But the people he has served often remember. Several years ago, Peacock got a call that a female student had overdosed.

"We ended up breaking into her dorm room, getting her to the hospital, where they intubated her," Peacock said. "They didn't know if she was going to make it.

"A year later, I was at the Grove, and this girl walked up to me. She said, 'Lt. Peacock, do you remember me?' She told me who she was, and she was the girl that we broke into her dorm room, and she remembered my name.

"That makes you feel really good."

Top: University Police Department Lt. Adam Peacock patrols along the Walk of Champions in the Grove before an Ole Miss-Texas A&M football game in November 2021. Peacock recently retired from the university after 26 years of looking after Ole Miss students, faculty, staff and visitors. Photo by Thomas Graning/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services