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Crime’s Down—But Do the Candidates Know It?

JPD Assistant Chief Lee Vance says crime in all precincts is done in the last three years.

JPD Assistant Chief Lee Vance says crime in all precincts is done in the last three years.

Now that we're in the throes of another city election, it should come as no surprise that Jackson crime has been a major subject of conversation in debates and forums. In talking about their solutions about crime, many of the mayoral candidates have expressed strong views that crime is a major problem.

But how bad is it? Jackson Police Department officials and official city crime statistics show that the city's total local crime rate has significantly decreased in the last three years.

"All precincts are down, not just Precinct 1," JPD Assistant Chief Lee Vance said.

Vance points to Precinct 3 in northwest Jackson, which over the past three years has reported low numbers. Still, the precinct continues to lead the city in crime reduction even thought the precinct has seen lower crime numbers for the last four or five years.

When the JFP editorial board asked State Sen. John Horhn about his DUI last year, he turned the topic to his experience as a victim of both violent and property crime.

In an interview with the JFP, Horhn said he has plans for both fighting crime and crime prevention. He said he wants to work to figure out if more jail space is needed, put a stop to criminals getting out of jail due to overcrowding, developing more after-school programs and incentivize officers with pay raises.

"I had a five-point plan that I introduced into the Legislature this year. ... First thing is a comprehensive plan, like the RAND Corporation to come in and do a complete assessment of what's going on with crime in Jackson and make recommendations that we can follow.

"The second thing I had—and I've backed off of this a little bit—was a multijurisdictional strike force that would involve federal state and local officials led by JPD. Number three would be a backlog removal process. ... The fourth would be the prisoner-housing situation. ... I wanted a fund that would provide for jail overcrowding. ... The fifth thing is the prevention and rehabilitation piece. We need a re-entry program that speaks to helping young men getting into that ... vicious cycle. What about assisting employers and incentivizing them through a matching grant program to cover half of the wages that their going to pay that ex-offender until he gets on his feet for a certain amount of time?"

Ward 2 Councilman Melvin Priester Jr., who represents Precinct 3, has been outspoken about the need for more "predictive" policing—beyond the crime patterns JPD's current COMSTAT system projects weekly. He says that Jackson needs to follow the lead of many cities that are using more advanced business analysis tools to help monitor crime.

Priester was careful to say that he is not interested in neighborhood or racial profiling, however. He is also a proponent of creating jobs and after-school programs for crime prevention.

"One of the great things about these new tools is that they allow for transparency and accountability in ways that haven't been done before," Priester said. "... I'm saying that we're not doing a good enough job in part because there are more advanced technologies available."

Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber talked about his vision for replicating and broadening the work community members in his ward have done to combat crime in Ward 6 and an area of Ward 7 near Terry Road.

"When I first got on council, my ward and specifically the precinct was experiencing anywhere from 50 to 56 house burglaries a week—a week," Yarber said. "We have now taken that down to about 10 to 12 a week, and you can go and track that. "

Margaret Barrett-Simon, who represents Ward 7, feels strongly that building more jail space is the last thing that Jackson needs. She wants to see more investment in after-school programs to prevent crime.

"You can pay now or pay later," Barrett Simon said.

"Every one of these kids that's falling through the cracks is going to end up incarcerated, and I believe that a lot of these kids that are in trouble are in trouble because they're bored."

Vance explained that some of the solutions candidates are talking about are already in the works. He said JPD has been able to chip away at the numbers in all precincts over the last several years through a combination of visibility and quick response time, particularly in South Jackson's Precinct 1 as well as Precinct 3.

"You look at the big numbers," Vance said. "You go to each precinct, and you say, 'OK, what's the worst crime in that particular precinct?

Vance continued: "Then you look at strategies on how to attack that number, because if you attack that number, that means the rest of your crime is going to go down."

Comments

RonniM 9 years, 12 months ago

It's wonderful that Sen. Horhn advocates for a prisoner re-entry program in Jackson. It's disconcerting that he doesn't know the city already has two: Second Chance and Fresh Start.

Unfortunately, the programs are oversubscribed and underfunded. That's especially troubling because Jackson is the destination for many released convicts, whether or not they have connections to the community, courtesy of MDOC.

I'm a big supporter of medium- and long-term solutions to crime, including targeted pre-school and after-school programs, expanded drug courts and programs such as the http://mscvp.org/batterers-intervention/">batterer's intervention program run by the Center for Violence Prevention. But more funding for re-entry programs could have an immediate effect on Jackson's crime rate, giving ex-offenders a structured, supportive environment and opportunities to build responsible, contributing lives after prison.

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multiculturegirl37 9 years, 12 months ago

It has been disconcerting to me to listen to many candidates speak about crime as if it hasn't changed and as if it is just completely out of control. That is disingenuous at best.

I will be honest I was annoyed when John Hornn pivoted from the topic of his own crime to the discussion of him being a crime victim and described his DUI as an "unfortunate" incident vs an actual crime and said he apologized to his family and church. That's nice but he endangered the citizens who were driving the streets at the time he was and I haven't really heard him own that. He talks around that I don't respect that no matter how much service he has given to the area.

I agree with you Ronni one thing that Tony Yarber spoke about in his interview that was true is that if we want to address our economy we have to address the ability of former inmates to be employed as well. Nothing is gained in releasing people and continuing to punish them.

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donnaladd 9 years, 12 months ago

The way candidates approach, and campaign on, crime is always a huge factor for me/us in endorsement decisions.

Horhn's promise to give police officers raise as a primary way to fight crime is a turn-off to me, because it seems so nakedly political. I don't want officers to get raises without other standards attached to them. That is, tell us how you're going to motivate, train and hold the force more accountable AS you give them more money.

I've really liked Lumumba's comments about crime. I think he gets that it is complicated and needs a holistic approach, and I love the idea of a citizens review board. You could say that I want to see carrots and sticks in the police officer conversation.

I also would have liked Sen. Horhn to have answered the question about his blood-alcohol level when arrested, but he just would say it's under dispute. Maybe it is, but why not tell us what he was accused of; that feels accountability to me.

And I'm saying that as someone who likes him and think he could have a lot to offer.

The big point, which you're both making, is that Jackson has to grow up on the topic of crime (and we have a lot since the wild, wild Melton days when the Ledger lifted "perception" comments out of context on a regular basis. We must elect someone who will lead that intelligent conversation on crime and know that it's about more than technology or police officers. I think Mayor Lumumba got this, and I think his son does, too. We'll see.

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js1976 9 years, 12 months ago

Even though crime is down, it is and should still be a a subject of conversation in the upcoming elections. Like Donna stated though, keeping crime under control is a lot more complex than just throwing money at the problem.

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donnaladd 9 years, 12 months ago

Sure, js, but intelligent conversation, which you seem to be saying as well. What can we do to prevent it?

We did a special issue on that, in fact: http://www.jfp.ms/crime">jfp.ms/crime

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