JACKSON, Miss.—Mississippi’s capital city will see a “surge in state, local and federal law-enforcement resources,” Gov. Tate Reeves announced at a press conference in the capital city on Tuesday. But he and the others who were gathered in the parking lot of a now-closed Cracker Barrel restaurant on I-55 did not provide any specifics on how their surge strategy would actually lower violent crime.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell and representatives from both the Jackson Police Department and Capitol Police were there with Reeves to announce “Operation Unified,” which they described as a joint effort among law-enforcement agencies to flood the streets of Jackson with more police officers.
“Despite the vast positives that Jackson has to offer, there’s no doubt that, like many other cities around the country, we continue to grapple with a crime problem,” Reeves said. He did not mention crime and violence in surrounding areas in the capital-city region or how the state was involved with other local agencies.
The Mississippi Free Press asked Reeves if the new initiative included anything beyond more police in Jackson, and he said it would also include more prosecutors. In Hinds County, pre-trial detention—someone in jail without being proved guilty while awaiting trial—can last for years. One problem often blamed is too few prosecutorial resources.
Reeves mentioned no other violence-prevention initiative, but he did say that education is important. The governor has routinely been against the full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program through his career and has supported extra funds for teachers in often-better-funded schools with higher test scores.
‘You Don’t Run This City’
Commissioner Sean Tindell said the new initiative, which began a month ago in mid-January, means increased resources for the Hinds County District Attorney’s office to prosecute those charged with committing violent crimes and drug trafficking in the capital city. While JPD data showed a drop in homicides in Jackson in 2023, the city had more homicides per capita than any major city nationwide with 118 in 2023, WLBT reported on Jan. 8. That
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