Jackson Free Press

During the weeks leading up to the 2005 city elections, we've heard a lot about "community policing"—the mayor's preferred approach to fighting crime—and whether or not it is working. As someone who has participated in community policing since November 2003, I have a pretty good perspective on its effectiveness in Jackson. I am a Fondren resident and currently volunteer my time as the moderator for Precinct 4 Community Oriented Policing (COPS). I can tell you that it is indeed having a positive effect on crime in Jackson—and on the "perception" that crime is out of our control.

I moved to Fondren in spring 2002. Soon after arriving in the neighborhood, my wife Kristen (she's a Millsaps history professor and the reason I have lived in Jackson since 2000) and I were invited to a crime-watch meeting and from that I got involved with the Fondren Renaissance Foundation. I became chairman of the newly formed landlord relations committee.

A friend and neighbor in Fondren participated in a JPD program over the summer of 2003, and asked me to get involved with COPS. Because I had spent over a year dealing with property issues, she recognized that I knew how to deal with dilapidated structures, absentee landlords and the procedure to seek action through the Office of Community Improvement. It was pretty obvious at the first COPS meeting that property code violations were a key issue, and we set out to solve the "broken windows" problem. We have accomplished many short-term goals in this area including the razing of numerous sub-standard structures, the improvement of code services communication, and the building of relationships between COPS, city council and environmental court.

Here in Precinct 4, we meet once a month with set agendas, guest speakers, and an environment that includes police, religious, education, business and community leaders. More than 30 concerned Jacksonians attended the last meeting. There were folks from the mayor's office, various Precinct 4 police officers, representatives from City of Jackson Public Works, Animal Control, Community Improvement and the Jackson Fire Department. A consultant from the Gulf States Regional Community Policing Institute joined us, as did community and organization leaders and concerned citizens. Our guest speaker was a specialist in the JPD Sex Crimes Unit.

Regardless of what the naysayers tell you, there is substance to community policing and government in Jackson. Our mission is to target areas of civic improvement that make a safer environment in which to live and reduce crime.

We facilitate the needs of concerned citizens searching for code violation recourse. We educate the public on how to negotiate the city bureaucracy and the legislative process. We work directly with neighborhood organizations to establish the visions and planning necessary to better our local environment and economies. We are also addressing the problem of truancy in Jackson, and are trying to figure out the best ways to keep our youth involved in school and participating in after school activities. And we are identifying grants at the local, state and federal levels to help defray the costs of city programming that must develop in order for Jackson to manifest into the great city that it can be.

Community policing is not a catchphrase, nor is it a difficult approach to understand. There are different philosophies, data and reports to consider, but the general underlying principle is that we must do our parts as individuals and as a community to bring crime rates down. It is impossible to win the fight against crime by voting for a new mayor or appointing a new chief. What will make it possible is for the citizens of Jackson to rise to the task of true crime prevention.

Step outside your homes, get to know your neighbors, go to meetings, get yourselves and your children involved in activities that better the community. We need to stop griping, moaning, and demanding that others make crime go away in Jackson. We need to stop incarcerating young black men and demonstrate cultural sensitivity for Jackson's youth so they may have the opportunity to develop into healthy and educated adults.

According to a December 2004 analysis conducted by the University of Memphis that studied the Memphis Police Department, community policing is the first substantive reform in crime prevention in America over the past 50 years. "Community Policing as a whole incorporates a new philosophy that broadens the police mission from a narrow focus on crime to one that encourages and enables the police to explore creative solutions for a host of community concerns, including crime, fear of crime, social disorder and neighborhood conditions. It rests on the belief that only by working together will the public and the police be able to improve citizens' quality of life." This cooperative element is the key philosophical ingredient of a progressive community action plan for Jackson.

We need to pressure our state legislators to give us the resources for education and effective crime prevention. We need to ensure that the budgets we are given are properly allocated and continue to demand accountability from our city government, our police and ourselves. Let's stop making excuses and passing the blame.

Bob Oertel moved to Jackson from Kansas City in 2000 and is the president of Oertel Design Inc. Bob, wife Kristen and son Owen live in Fondren.

Previous Comments

ID

69924

Comment

Friends & Neighbors, The next meeting of Precinct 4 COPS will be this Thursday, May 5 at 4:30 PM. The tentative agenda is as follows: 4:30 Greetings and introductions around the room 4:35 Old business & updates in Precinct 4 -General report on P4 COPS (Bob Oertel) -Report of what happened in environmental court in April -Truancy Update (George Cricenti) -North Midtown News (General plus Animal Control issues) -COMSTAT report (Commander Brent Winstead or Lt. Thomas) 4:55 New Business -Election results: What do they mean to us? Approx. 5-5:15 to 5:30 -Guest Speaker: Dr. Leslie B. McLemore (Current Ward 2 Councilman and council president) -Announcements 5:35 Closing Our meetings take place on the second floor of Precinct 4, located at the NE corner of North State St. and Patton in Fondren. If you have any concerns or issues that you want to discuss during this meeting, please let me know. [email][email protected][/email] Thanks and have a great week. Bob Oertel

Author

bobnoxious

Date

2005-05-02T20:54:40-06:00