Jackson Free Press

"You can shoot into a house, not caring what you hit, and that is a blatant disregard for life that only God gives. ... I'm sickened by it. I'm disgusted by it, and I'm not tolerating it in this city."

—Mayor Tony Yarber on a rash of Jackson homicides in recent weeks to WLBT.

Why it stinks: Mayor Yarber is right to be mad about the senseless loss of life in the capital city. Later, WLBT paraphrases Yarber saying the Jackson Police Department, which he oversees, would be making more traffic stops and, therefore, more arrests. There's a missing link in this, however: the U.S. Constitution. How are JPD officers determining who gets pulled over (Jackson also has an anti-racial profiling ordinance), and what probable cause are they using to initiate vehicle searches? Hopefully, Yarber and JPD are transparent about these public-safety efforts in coming weeks.