Jackson Free Press

Police Chief Shirlene Anderson has been pushing the idea of a misdemeanor jail as part of her plan to battle repeat offenders in the city.

"Everybody knows the situation, but nobody's willing to come up with a solution, so we put a solution on the table, and a part of it is a misdemeanor work camp," Anderson told a neighborhood association meeting last week. "We're dealing with a problem that hasn't just gotten like that in the last three years or two years. It's been like that for the last 15 or 20 years."

Anderson complained that most of the revenue the city should get from warrants are delayed by a stalled, overworked system, and suggested the idea of a camp where residents could work off the amount of their warrant. The idea, she said, would have the double benefit of cutting into the county's exploding jail population, add helping hands to an understaffed city government and allow misdemeanor violators to repay their debts without sacrificing a portion of their income.

The county jail is regularly packed to its capacity of about 600 and must release misdemeanor violators who would otherwise qualify for detainment, such as convicted of traffic violations, prostitution and possession of small amounts of illegal drugs.

Anderson said the city's police department can no longer impose the threat of detainment to repeat misdemeanor violators and has lost much of its effectiveness as repeat offenders come to realize that JPD is emasculated. Anderson told the group that the city must consider an alternative because the current JPD tactic of arrest and harassment of small-time law-breakers is going nowhere.

"Whether the sheriff's department has the space or not, we're going to be picking up those individuals, and they'll release them on their own recognizance, and when they get caught again, the news sources will say that this person has been arrested 40-something times. All we can do is arrest them and take them and book them in until that part of the system is fixed," Anderson said.

Some council members expressed doubt in the feasibility of a city work program.

"Personally, I would like for the misdemeanor jail idea to work, because we need to do something," said Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler. "My concern, though, is that I don't know what state law thinks about the idea. I don't even know if the state will allow us to do that."

ACLU attorney John Williams said he had some doubts about the legality of the program, claiming that ulterior motives have frequently been the drive behind the creation of such programs in the past.

"The motives are kind of flawed if they're intent on building the facility for the purpose of having (misdemeanor offenders) as menial laborers. Historically, that has always been a problem because law enforcement would arrest minorities for small crimes for the purpose of creating labor," Williams said. "Basically, we haven't reached any conclusion about the validity of a misdemeanor jail facility. We will definitely monitor the situation and do more investigation behind the motives of the city."

Anderson admits that she is working under a system outside her control that is hobbled by a lack of funds in both the county and city government. The county judicial system labors under a plague of staff shortages clogging the system, keeping violators from either conviction or exoneration for months—and choking the jail all the while.

"I guess we need 200 or 300 more beds," said county Supervisor George Smith. "I think that would cost us between $6 million and $10 million to come up with an expansion for Jackson and Hinds County that would do a good job for us. If the system was clicking, we wouldn't need any more beds for a while."

Anderson's criticism of this, however, is that the system is hardly "clicking," and that until the city comes up with a better alternative, JPD amounts to a bunch of uniformed people wielding little more than dirty looks for misdemeanor violators.

"The way I see it, if you build another jail that can hold up to 5,000 prisoners, that jail will get filled up until the system is fixed," Anderson said, and added that she was already moving to consider the misdemeanor jail.

"We're working hard today in the rain. We had (prisoners' rights attorney) Ron Welch with us, we had an architect with us, and we went along with deputy chiefs. We went out and looked at three sites, trying to see what we can come up with to try and eliminate our problem, where we can have some relief, because we're picking up these folks for traffic violations, prostitution, parking on the grass, environmental issues with all the junk up in their yard and all the crimes against property and we just don't have a place to put them," she said.

Welch did not return calls for comment.

Previous Comments

ID

66985

Comment

The Ledger got around to this story today. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-02T11:15:09-06:00

ID

66986

Comment

This story reflects a huge issue - I have had so many conversations about crime in Jackson and to me this seems to be the clear "broken link" in the chain. I also think it creates a situation in which the motivation for police officers to locate suspected criminals and arrest them just goes down the drain. Why arrest someone if you know they will be back on the street the next day?

Author

Izzy

Date

2006-11-02T14:22:17-06:00

ID

66987

Comment

I just don't remember the past administration having as much trouble with the jail. And, stats show that crime was declining for 3 straight years before Melton left office. The last chief actually created a plan, himself, and used it to effectively reduce crime. Still had the same jail all that time too! However, naysayers like to harp on the past chief by saying the stats were altered without providing any proof or reporting it the FBI. Jackson is clearly more dangerous than it was just 3 years ago. That is not perception - it is truth! The police force was larger and more motivated. Still the jail was the same. I think it is a close race as to who is worst at their job, Melton or Anderson!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-11-03T10:28:33-06:00

ID

66988

Comment

I agree, Pike. Bizarrely, the Melton administration has brought a spirit of lawlessess to the city.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-03T12:51:32-06:00

ID

66989

Comment

Gotta love Anarchy! When the constituents figure out that Rule of Law doesn't apply, only human nature intervenes (think Lord of the Flies). When you can commit petty crimes without recourse, you redefine petty crimes based on "feelings" or "mob rules". And when the government can destroy your house without recourse, God help us. That includes Eminent Domain.

Author

Doc Rogers

Date

2006-11-06T22:53:46-06:00