Jackson Free Press

Major crimes in Jackson dropped a whopping 9 percent last week, but Jackson Police officers are concerned about a rash of burglaries at churches across the city. Since mid-December, the city has seen 14 church burglaries, most recently on Tuesday Jan. 26 at New Jerusalem Church on Old Canton Road.

At a weekly crime meeting this morning, precinct commanders described the measures beat officers were taking to protect area churches. In west and central Jackson's Precinct 2, for example, Commander Jeremiah Jones said patrol officers are required to check the churches on their beats once an hour.

Churches accounted for four of the 18 business burglaries in Precinct 2 last week. Precinct 3, in Northwest Jackson, saw one church burglary in the previous week according to Commander Ron Sampson, but the precinct has reported two this week, both on late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

The department is holding a crime prevention seminar for houses of worship Feb. 3. The seminar, which will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Police Training Academy on 3000 Charles St., will focus on factors that discourage break-ins, such as landscaping, exterior lighting and secure windows.

Business burglary, which includes church burglaries, is one of the few property crimes currently above last year's figures. JPD has reported 102 business burglaries already in 2010, compared to 57 by this time last year. Auto burglaries and auto thefts are down 13 percent and 33 percent, respectively, compared to 2009. House burglaries decreased 11 percent last week from the week before but are up 4 percent for the year to date.

Overall, property crimes are down 1.8 percent compared to last year, while violent crimes are up slightly, from 92 at this time last year, to 116 this year.