NATCHEZ — The City of Jackson’s recently appointed police chief has humble roots in Natchez, but the woman who raised him from his early childhood said he is certainly the best man for the job.

“I’m so proud of him,” said Jimmi Vasser, who raised Jackson’s newest police chief, James Davis, on her family’s ranch on Springfield Road in Natchez. “He has come from the bottom all of the way to the top, on his own. They’ve picked a great man … and couldn’t have picked a better one.”

Vasser said she and her late husband, Phil, raised Davis since he was 9 years old alongside his younger brother, Curtis, who is an officer for the Natchez Police Department.

Vasser said Davis’ mother, Jean Davis, still lives in Natchez and is very close to the family.

“She was wonderful to share her boys with us,” Vasser said.

Both James and Curtis began helping out on the Vasser family ranch from a young age while they attended school, Vasser said.

“They started working with us and stayed here until James graduated from high school and went to the police academy in Jackson,” Vasser said.

Curtis soon left the ranch, too, Vasser said, and went into the army reserve for 23 years and is now a highly decorated veteran.

Curtis is now legally adopted into the Vasser family and still helps out on the ranch in Natchez, Vasser said.

At 50 years old, James was named Jackson Police Chief in September by a unanimous vote of the Jackson City Council, Vasser said.

Both Curtis and James, though they are now grown men, still keep close ties to their roots, Vasser said.

“James was a bodybuilder,” Vasser said. “(Being a police officer) wasn’t something that he voiced wanting to do, but then again I wasn’t surprised. He always keeps active.”