Belhaven area residents recently gathered for a town hall meeting about crime in the neighborhood with questions about random gunshots, loud cars driving on I-55 that they can hear blocks away and other issues.
The chief of the Jackson Police Department and the Interim Hinds County sheriff gave out their cell phone numbers and encouraged anyone to call them.
An individual at the meeting, which was held outdoors in a parking lot on North Jefferson Street, questioned why the Chief James E. Davis and InterimHinds County Sheriff Marshand Crisler provided their cell phone numbers and asked if someone should call them to report a problem instead of 911.
JPD did have a shortage of dispatchers but temporary workers, new hires and police officers on modified duty answer calls to 911, Davis said. “The problem has decreased tremendously,” he said.
The 911 number is still recommended as the first call made in response to an emergency.
Jennifer Welch, owner of Belhaven Springs apartment complex on North Jefferson Street, arranged the town hall meeting after gunshots were fired during a recent carjacking in the area, said Casey Creasey, executive director of the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation. “She had a lot of tenants upset and she wanted to do something to reassure them,” she said.
Crisler reassured the crowd of about 50 people that criminals are being caught and Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens is working hard. The breakdown in the system is with the judiciary and sentencing in Hinds County, he said
“We got people out on bail who shouldn’t be getting bail,” Crisler said. “The judiciary needs to be held to the same standards as law enforcement.”
The city of Jackson needs a misdemeanor jail, Davis said. Instead of being held in jail, an individual charged with a misdemeanor receives a slip of paper known as a field release and is given a date to show up for court, he said, but many do not show up.
“Since March of last year, we have field released over 2,000 individuals,” Davis said.
Virgi Lindsay, Jackson city council member who represents Ward 7, which includes the Belhaven area, told the crowd that the council voted to give pay raises to retain police officers and help recruit new ones.
She said the council is waiting for Davis to provide a plan about what the department needs to fight crime.
“We need a jail,” Davis said. “If we had a jail, we’d see a reduction in crime.”
Someone in the crowd asked for specifics about a jail: What is it you need? Architectural drawings?
Lindsay advised: “The person you need to call about that is the mayor.”
Cops, courts and correction are key to fighting crime, Davis said. “When you have either of those broken, you have a problem,” he said.
JPD was once short 100 officers but now lacks 67 officers, said Davis, who did not provide any other data about staffing levels at JPD. The department has had five police recruit classes in the last year, he said.
A greater police presence in Belhaven would be useful in preventing crime, said Jona Keeton, a Belhaven resident who attended the meeting.
She suggested security officers from Millsaps College, Belhaven University and the University of Mississippi Medical Center patrol areas of the neighborhood close to their campuses.
The system to rehabilitate criminals is flawed, Crisler said, and jails have become adult daycare centers.
JPD hears about random gunshots being fired across the city, Davis said. He blamed gun shows that are often held at the Mississippi Fairgrounds for making firearms easy to obtain and said that teens who once wanted a pair of Jordans to wear now want guns.
Lindsay said she calls Davis when she hears loud cars driving in the neighborhood and she’s found that the appearance of blue lights puts an end to it.
