Community shows up for Town Hall where crime was the hot topic

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — Community members packed the Every Occasion Event Center on Walnut for a Town Hall meeting Wednesday night.

Ward 1 Alderman Thomas “TJ” Mayfield organized the event to allow the community to speak with the newly installed leadership of the police department. Mayor Willis Thompson was in attendance, and Central District Public Service Commissioner De’Keither Stamps showed up towards the end of the meeting.

Alderman Mayfield welcomed the crowd, and Vicksburg Police Chief Larry Burns led the group in prayer. Mayfield opened the meeting by discussing natural gas prices, noting that they were increasing due to market conditions, and then turned the meeting over to questions from the public.

The first question was about the NOLA cameras, their effectiveness, and future implementation. Chief Burns stated that the cameras were not performing as intended. In particular, they did not respond quickly enough to loud noises, such as gunshots or loud mufflers, saying, “We want to see what’s happening before it happens.” Burns went on to explain that the cameras often turn too late to gain any useful information. He clarified that they have been useful in some situations but have not performed as promised.

The NOLA cameras were touted by the last administration as a high-tech way to monitor activity in the city. They were supposed to be able to zoom in from blocks away to see what people were holding in their hands. Another feature was to be sound sensitive. If a loud noise, such as a gunshot, went off in their area, the camera would turn in that direction. According to Chief Burns, that feature is not performing as promised.

Under the last administration, they promoted installing hundreds of NOLA cameras across the community. Burns indicated there were 16 known to be in operation, but twice avoided saying how many were functional.

Burns stated the NET team was being brought back together to go after known trouble-makers in the community. “We want to stop crime before it happens,” said Burns. Deputy Chief Tommy Curtis noted an arrest made the prior night of known troublemakers in the city. “When we rolled up, they took off running,” said Curtis.

Burns also addressed the issue of the prior administration having over 70 case files closed by the District Attorney’s office. “We’ve set up timelines,” said Burns, and went on to say the community will see a difference. When a community member asked why the people should trust the police after the last administration, Burns said, “Give us time.”

Burns stated one of the biggest battles he’s fighting administratively is money. “We’re behind, and we’re going to get it caught up. It costs money.” Burns clarified that he was referring specifically to staffing and technology, especially working cameras. Currently, the city has nearly 200 cameras that cover high-need areas. Burns wants to expand on that by including cameras that respond to loud noises.

Currently, the police department has around 50 officers. Burns wants to increase that number to 68. He stated the recent pay changes helped morale, but did not attract as many officers as hoped. “It’s a tough time to recruit,” said Burns, referring to the national mood toward law enforcement. Burns went on to say that the department had been underfunded for some time and that fixing the issues would require more funding from the city. He also offered that his department had applied for close to 3 million in grants and was excited about the possibility.

In the last couple of minutes, Commissioner Stamps spoke and took questions, but was cut short by TJ Mayfield, who claimed they were running out of time. Stamps was asked to address the spike in natural gas prices and its impact on consumers once the new Entergy power plant at Baxter Wilson is operational. That plant will help power the new AI data center in Vicksburg, and voters are concerned that the new plant, powered by natural gas, will cause their electric bills to rise.

The Vicksburg Daily News shared contact information with Stamps to get a response to that question.

Mayor Thompson spoke last before Mayfield closed the meeting. The Mayor thanked the community and TJ for showing up and emphasized that it will take time to fix things.