Less talk and more action are needed to combat crime in the city of Jackson, according to the president of the Jackson City Council.
“We’ve got to stop messing around and realize we have a crime epidemic,” said Ashby Foote, who represents Ward 1 and serves as president of the council.
Like many cities across the country, Jackson has experienced a rise in crime and violence since the global coronavirus pandemic. Reasons given for the increase are homes that lack adult supervision, uncertainty brought about by the pandemic and not enough police officers.
The Jackson Police Department is down 100 officers, Foote said, and JPD needs to determine how to remedy that. “It’s a national problem but there’s no reason to give up,” he said.
The council has made efforts at combatting crime that include raising the pay for police officers and passing ordinances aimed at stemming violence.
The Legislature stepped in during the 2022 session to provide funds to expand the Capitol Police and to hire additional judges and public defenders.
The council voted in September 2021 to use more than $5.7 million from the $21 million the city has in hand from the American Rescue Plan Act for premium pay for veteran police officers, firefighters and dispatchers.
That increased pay to $45,000 for police corporals and Jackson Fire Department lieutenants and to $48,000 for police sergeants and JPD captains. The funds raised pay for a dispatcher to $15 an hour.
Virgi Lindsay, who represents Ward 7 on the council, said the pay rate for police officers must be considered every year.
JPD must compete for officers with metro area police departments that may have higher pay, Foote said, and better morale.
“We’ve also got to work on morale within JPD,” he said. “You have to have an environment conducive to good morale and positive feedback.”
Said to be a necessary tool that JPD lacked, a misdemeanor holding facility is expected to be ready for use on Oct. 1.
The facility, which can hold about 180 beds, will be located on the third floor of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office at President and Tombigbee Street, behind the Hinds County Courthouse and less than a block away from the Jackson Police Department.
Although violent crimes continue to make the six o’clock news and reports of car jackings and armed robberies show up on Facebook and Nextdoor, state and federal agencies are providing support in the city’s fight against crime.
“I am encouraged by all of the different agencies that are coming together to help the city address this serious crime problem,” Lindsay said. “All of these efforts are important steps, but we certainly still have much more to do.
“I’m grateful to the state for growing the Capitol Police presence in the Capitol Complex Improvement District. They will have 98 officers fully equipped by Sept. 1.”
Plans are in place to double the number of Capitol Police officers from 74 to 150 by the end of 2023 and fully equip them with what they need to do their job. The 2022 legislative session provided funding for the additional Capitol Police officers, which will allow JPD to focus its efforts outside of the Capitol Complex Improvement District and elsewhere in the city as needed.
Sean Tindell, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, expects to discuss with JPD Chief James Davis how the Capitol Police and JPD can work together. To clarify the responsibilities of the Capitol Police and JPD, a memorandum of understanding will be signed, Tindell said.
Tindell said he’s met with Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones about how Capitol Police could work with his deputies, perhaps on a task force.
David Blount, who represents District 29 in the Mississippi Senate, said increasing the number of Capitol Police officers so they can respond to calls in the district and allow JPD officers to focus their attention in other parts of the city was a priority of the Jackson legislative delegation during the 2022 session.
“The point is that every officer working for Capitol Police in a defined area allows JPD to employ greater resources elsewhere in the city,” he said.
Blount said he appreciates the efforts of JPD, but the department is underfunded and needs additional officers. “This is a way to get more officers on the street,” he said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and other federal agencies have also joined to assist JPD in combatting crime.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is working 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, said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Darren J. LaMarca.
“They are pulling together to investigate side-by-side with JPD to see if some of these crimes are federal crimes as well and, 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.”
To help with the backlog of cases in Hinds County, the Mississippi Supreme Court approved the appointment of Senior Status Judges David Anthony Chandler, Isadore Patrick Jr. and Betty W. Sanders, each of whom will serve through Jan. 31, 2023.
Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act will pay for the judges. The American Rescue Plan Act dollars can be used to address rising crime rates brought about by the pandemic.
The council confirmed in July the hiring of attorney Lynn Watkins as a municipal judge. Watkins joins Judges Henry Clay III, Taurean Buchanan, June Hardwick, Jeffrey P. Reynolds, and Lilli Evans Bass and Kevin Bass on the bench. Lilli Evans Bass and Kevin Bass are not related.
The council also approved at the July 5 meeting a six-month contract with attorney Tim Howard to provide representation for indigent defendants charged with misdemeanors in Jackson Municipal Court. The contract may be renewed and is not to exceed $5,000 a month.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said the backlog of cases in municipal court made it prudent to appoint another judge and to hire another attorney to provide representation for indigent defendants.
The city council has passed at least two ordinances aimed at combating crime. One ordinance allows JPD to impound vehicles involved in excess speeding and another places a moratorium on new bars and nightclubs in downtown Jackson between Mill Street and State Street for 12 months, Lindsay said.
At times, JPD has set up roadblocks and concentrated on catching speeding drivers, with the thought being that disruption of such crimes will result in catching individuals who are wanted, have illegal weapons or lack a driver’s license and insurance.
Some neighborhoods that have the capacity to raise funds have taken matters into their own hands by installing security cameras and getting approved to install public access gates.
Neighborhoods investing in security cameras linked to the real time crime center on Riverside Drive are providing a helpful tool to the city’s crime fighting efforts, Lindsay said.
The Belhaven Improvement Association and the Greater Belhaven Neighborhood Foundation have led the way in buying security cameras and installing them around the perimeter of the neighborhood, an effort that Belhaven University supported.
At least six Jackson neighborhoods rely on additional security patrols to supplement that offered by the Jackson Police Department. Residents pay from $35 per month upwards for the service, with some assessing a separate fee and others including it as part of their neighborhood association dues.
Some neighborhoods hire private security firms and others, off-duty JPD officers and Hinds County Sheriff’s Office deputies. The off-duty JPD officers and sheriff’s deputies can carry their weapons and make arrests, unlike private security firm employees.
Ken Wilson, president of the Ridgewood Neighborhood Association believes a multi-faceted approach to fight crime is needed that would involve JPD, Jackson public schools, youth and teen programs, faith-based programs and more opportunities for work.
Lumumba has spoken of crime as a multi-faceted, complex issue and praised the efforts of organizations such as Strong Arms of Jackson, which works with juvenile offenders.
Lindsay, too, believes crime is a complicated issue with many pieces to consider.
“Communities don’t exist in a vacuum and there are circumstances where people and children are in dire need of mental health services, assistance with finding decent housing, getting children back in school,” she said.
