The City of Jackson's crime rate is rising. According to the Clarion-Ledger, there have been 79 murders in the capital city this year, a rate that could surpass the highest homicide rate in the city's history of 130 murders. Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell says expanding the state's law enforcement presence in the city could help deter crime and catch criminals.
Tindell says "When you look at the incident that occurred with the protests at the capitols across the country, we realized how important it was that the Mississippi Capitol Police, Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics be able to come together and operate together in those types of situations."
New legislation is allowing highway patrol to set up radars in large cities, and power over the Capitol Police force is being moved from the Department of Finance and Administration to the Department of Public Safety. Governor Tate Reeves says this will help state law enforcement work more closely together. He says the rising crime rate in Jackson is not unique to the city and says it is linked to a political movement that aims to restructure the role of police officers in their communities.
"I think that it goes back to this idea that some have that we ought to 'defund the police.'" says Reeves. "Well in Mississippi, we don't think that we should defund the police, we think we should refund the police, increase funding for the police, and show more support for our police."
No officials with the City of Jackson were invited to the press conference to discuss the role of state law enforcement in city limits.
