I have a solution to Jackson's crime problem. It wouldn't happen overnight, but it would cost nothing. It all starts with enforcing existing traffic laws.
Jackson drivers routinely speed through red lights and are rarely ticketed. I see it every time I'm in my car. Instead of slowing down when a light turns yellow, drivers blast through the red, endangering all other drivers.
Drivers have learned that there is no penalty for this behavior in Jackson. It has become a place of lawlessness.
By assigning two officers to do nothing but issue tickets for speeding and running red lights, we could start to turn the tide on this dangerous behavior.
Happily, it would cost the city nothing - the revenue from traffic tickets would more than pay the officers salaries.
In the mid-80s, New York City experienced a significant reduction in crime when they started to remove graffiti and fix broken windows in a timely manner. The "Broken Windows Theory" (search Wikipedia) says:
"If a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in rundown ones. Window-breaking does not necessarily occur on a large scale because some areas are inhabited by determined window-breakers whereas others are populated by window-lovers; rather, one unrepaired broken window is a signal that no one cares, and so breaking more windows costs nothing".
Articles like the one recently published on CNN (https://cnn.it/3FGuL5z) broadcast Jackson's problems to the world, further discouraging tourism and business investment in the city.
If the Broken Windows Theory was applied to our traffic problem, Jacksonians would feel safer and they would have more optimism in the future of their city. If it worked, it would demonstrate that the administration is forward-thinking, proactive and compassionate.
Sadly, it's evident that their current approach to lawlessness and violent crime is totally ineffective.
P. S.: I presented this idea to the City Council about two years ago. I was met with blank stares, then "Thank you. Next!"
John Zehr is a Northsider.
