Vicksburg Police Discuss Crime, Safety, and Mental Health at Town Hall Meeting

VICKSBURG, Miss. – The Vicksburg Police Department sat down with community members on Wednesday at the McDonald’s on Clay Street for a Public Safety Town Hall Meeting to discuss crime statistics as well as a Q&A with Police Chief Penny Jones and the Command Staff.

“Because we’ve had so many calls of service for calls such as auto-theft, shots fired, or just anything that would arouse the neighbors in an area to say ‘Hey, there’s a lot of this that’s going on, we need some extra patrols,'” said Vicksburg Police Chief Jones. “So what we’ve done is we’ve actually beefed up patrols in those areas.”

Jones said along with the regular officers that work the beat, additional offers would help in a small-scale saturation of the hot spots found around the city.

Jones said the Vicksburg Police has also increased traffic stops, stating that along with discovering drivers with suspended licenses or no insurance, also offers a way to reassure community members of police presence.

The police chief also encouraged citizens to be more observant of their surroundings, reiterating her mantra of “See something, say something.” Anything that’s unusual can and should be reported.

“You see things before we do and a lot of times unless you give us the information, we don’t know,” she said.

Public Cooperation Is Key

“Most people think that an arrest is the beginning and the end, but the arrest is just part of the process,” said Captain Curtis Judge. “Before we get to that arrest, we need a lot of information, a lot of details and that’s where we depend on the public at to give us information.”

Capt. Judge explained further that after an arrest, the arrested person goes in front of the judge where the bond is then set. Police have no say in the bond amount.

Captain Judge also thanked the community for their use of cameras, either at the homes or in the neighborhoods saying “We need them, and we use them.”

“It doesn’t always have to wait until a crime is committed before you tell somebody. If something is not right, if someone is just out of the ordinary, or if something doesn’t sit well with your soul tell somebody,” said Judge.

Judge also reiterated that reports generate stats and stats lead to increased patrols.

“We often times ask the public if they can just tell us information. Nobody wants to talk, nobody wants to tell anything, nobody wants to be involved because they’re scared,” said Judge. “My issue is: Why would you keep a shooter, why would you keep a killer out there in the public? If they shot that person for nothing, no reason whatsoever, what makes you think they won’t do it [to] you? We’ve got people shooting at stores in broad daylight, and nobody wants to talk about it. That’s a major problem. Those people that are doing these shootings have no regard for public safety. …We have to talk about these things. Information has to be put out there. We have to get these people off the street. They don’t care about our community, we shouldn’t care about them.”

Focusing on Youth and Prevention

Lt. Donnie Heggins, Narcotics Division, encouraged parents to know where your teens are at all times, advising parents to “Know who they’re friends are, and know who they’re with.”

Heggins touched on a return of the K9 units at the schools. It was later clarified that once metal detectors are installed, the program will return.

Detective Heggins also addressed those who have a medical marijuana card.

“If you’ve got a medical marijuana card, you can not ride around with marijuana in your vehicle opened up. If it’s in your car, it has to be sealed in the packaging it came from the pharmacy. It can not be opened, just like a can of beer.” said Heggins.

Lt. Nicholas Carson reiterated that many of the individuals the police department come in contact with are juveniles, stating that it starts at a very young age.

“We get into these serious crimes [where]twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen years old [are involved], and if you look at it, a lot of our young men that are in their twenties (twenty-one, twenty-two), if you go back, you’ve probably been dealing with them since they were fifteen, sixteen years old. So it’s kind of like a cycle that we’re trying to break,” said Lt. Carson.

Lt. Carson stressed the importance of knowing know who you’re kids are hanging out with and knowing the real names of those your kids associate with.

Carson additionally addressed the duty of responsible gun owners to not leave weapons unsecured in vehicles, as well as cautioning citizens of leaving their vehicles unlocked, or valuables out in the open.

“If your going to leave your doors open and your spare keys in the car, you’re basically giving your car away, unfortunately,” Lt. Carson. “You cannot completely stop crime, but you do not want to make it easy, either.”

Holiday Patrols and Community Engagement

Capt. Claude Billings, who commands the patrol division, added that 90% of auto burglaries are from vehicles being left unlocked. Billings assured that with the upcoming holiday season, he would ensure proper coverage.

“I’m going to make sure that we’ve got enough officers out during these holidays to make sure that every angle is covered on the patrol side,” Capt. Billings said. “The cooperation I’m asking for, is for people to start locking their cars. That’ll solve most of the auto-burglaries.”

Deputy Chief Troy Kimble spoke on the solvability of those crimes the community is affected by.

“All the things we’ve been talking about, when you get to this point, …about crime and how do we solve it? One thing I’ve done through my years as an investigator is know and rely on this: It’s not what you know, it’s what you can prove, and we prove those things through evidence.”

Deputy Chief Kimble said that evidence may come through tips from speaking directly with the officers, or Crime-stoppers, which allows people to anonymously report tips.

“In order to solve those crimes, we have to have the evidence, and the proof. And in doing those interviews, believe you me: people lie, evidence does not. So when we have [that] proof: the videos, the statements, the physical evidence, all that helps us in solving these cases.”

“You guys in the community know for a fact if your neighbors beside you is shooting a weapon before we even get there. You know if your neighbor has drugs in his house, or there are a number of cars coming by,” said Kimble. “…What we’re asking from the community is to please stay vigilant and assist us in what we do everyday to make our city safe.”

Citizens Academy and Broader Challenges

Deputy Chief Bryant brought up another opportunity for citizen involvement with the Vicksburg Police Department’s Citizens Academy. A program in it’s third year, is a ten week course that offers community members insight into the ins-and-outs of police work. As part of the course, attendees perform a ride-along with an officer as well as a sit-in with at the Vicksburg-Warren 911 call center.

Before Chief Jones opened the floor to questions, Jones addressed some of the contributing factors that may play a part in the ongoing crime, not only in the city of Vicksburg, but the country as a whole.

“Health care may play a part,” said Jones. “Health care, not having the proper insurance to go to the doctor to go to address your mental illness diagnosis or your anger issues, and that is so sad. I hope that sometime soon, everybody will be able to have affordable health care, because it does make a difference.”

Jones also said that mental health issues take a lot of police time and resources.

“It’s hard for us to go places and get them help. A lot of times we end up bringing them to the police department, and the police department is not the right place for a person who has mental illness. We’re not trained for that,” said Chief Jones. “They actually need help, and even when we go through so many different measures to get them somewhere to get some help, they only keep them there for a couple of days. Why? Because they have no insurance.”

Jones addressed the need for additional resources for young people, acknowledging that the Youth Development Center does take children from ages 6-18, but said the a challenge arises in getting the parents to get their child there to take advantage of the services that are available.

The Vicksburg Police Commissioner, Mayor George Flaggs, was not in attendance.