The U.S. Attorney’s Office designated the city of Jackson as a site to receive federal law enforcement, prevention, outreach and prosecution assistance to combat violent crime as part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood Initiative in 2015.
That initiative is still ongoing.
“We have and will continue to accept prosecutable cases from the Jackson Police Department with the help of our federal law enforcement partners and in collaboration with the Hinds County district attorney,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Darren J. LaMarca communicated via email.
Kenny Stokes, who represents Ward 3 on the Jackson City Council, wants to ensure the city isn’t overlooked by the U.S. Attorney’s Office when it comes to prosecuting felons with guns.
During the Dec. 6 council meeting, he brought forth a resolution recommending that “violent criminal cases involving felons with guns be referred to the Office of the United States Attorney for federal prosecution as a matter of public policy in the city of Jackson.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has prosecuted 20 cases in 2022 with more being investigated and evaluated, LaMarca said via email.
Cases are reviewed with federal partners to determine if they are prosecutable in federal court, he said. “Those decisions are based upon an evaluation of the admissible evidence and the target,” he said.
Should the U.S. Attorney’s Office decide to prosecute, it coordinates with the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office, LaMarca said.
Virgi Lindsay, who represents Ward 7 on the council, welcomes support numerous law enforcement agencies provide to combat crime in the city. “We appreciate all the help we are getting from law enforcement entities as well as our longstanding relationship with the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” she said.
Ashby Foote, who represents Ward 1, agreed with the sentiment Stokes’ resolution expressed: “We need to embrace help from our federal agencies.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced efforts to work with federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service as well as JPD and the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office.
LaMarca said at the time that the federal law enforcement agencies were working to investigate side-by-side with JPD to determine if some crimes committed in Jackson are federal crimes.
“If they are, we intend to prosecute in federal court where sentences have to be served 85 percent,” he said. “There’s no 50 percent, 25 percent.”
Carjackings, felons in possession of firearms, drug offenses and robberies of businesses as well as violent crimes committed by gangs under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act are some of the cases the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutes.
“We’re looking at carjackings and those people responsible for carjackings occurring in Jackson,” LaMarca said earlier this year.
Prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office packs a punch because offenders are not offered bail, provided some requirements are met, and cases go to trial quickly, Foote said.
“We’ve got to get the dangerous people off the street,” he said. “That’s constructive.”
When an offender is taken into federal custody, there is a detention hearing to determine if the individual arrested is a danger to society or police, LaMarca said.
“If we prove either one of those at the detention hearing then the federal court has the authority to detain that person until they have a trial, which means they don’t have bail,” he said.
Under the Speedy Trial Act, the federal court must be prepared to have trial within 70 days after an individual is arrested and brought into federal custody, LaMarca said, noting that there are continuances and reasons for continuances.
“There is no parole, no suspended sentence in federal court,” he said.
Stokes believes guns are present when many crimes are committed.
“We know that it is against the law for a felon to have a gun but they feel it’s better to have it and don’t need it rather than to need it and don’t have it,” Stokes said. “That criminal thinking is fueling the fire to the criminal activity in Jackson.”
