Jackson has more homicides this year than the last 20. It is pacing toward its highest year ever. (2024)

A depleted and underfunded police department, coupled with an unprecedented global pandemic, are among the reasons city of Jackson officials say the city is seeing an historic rise in homicides this year.

With more violence over Labor Day weekend—including several shootings that left three people dead— the city eclipsed homicide totals from any of the previous 20 years.

The capital city now has had 86homicides in 2020. Thatincludes85investigated by Jackson Police Department and oneinvestigated by Hinds County Sheriff's Office.The most recent victim this year is a man found shot to death in the city on Thursday morning.

There were 82 homicides reported in 2019 and 84 in 2018, previously the most recorded since the 1990s.

That translates toahomicide every three days in the capital city. The rate could slowas the city enters the cooler fall and winter months, when cities tend to see a decrease in violent crime, according to a New York Times study. At the current clip, the citywould seemore than 120homicides by the end of the year.

That would eclipse the all-time record for homicides in Jackson set in 1995, when 92people were killed, according todata from the Federal Bureau of Investigations'Unified Crime Reporting Program.

"These have been challenging times for our city and for the world, unlike any we have faced before,"Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said recently."The recent spike in violence, where friends and family are turning anger into violence and harming each other, when even a 6-year-old child is a shooting victim, are signs that our community is in crisis."

As the city continues budget discussions for the upcoming fiscal year,which begins Oct. 1, city officials are looking at ways to curb the violence by helping explain why it is occurring.

Funding and a serious staff shortage at thepolice department "is at the heart of all our budget discussions this year," Ward 2 City Councilman Melvin Priester Jr. said.

Social anxiety from coronavirus mandates

Priester said there are multiple factorsfor the high numbers but singled out the coronavirus pandemic as a catalyst for social anxiety in Jackson. He said a rise in unemployment across the city and the instability for residents to access mental health and other social services has compounded matters.

"There are many reasons for what is happening," he said. "Now, I believe we're seeing the perfect storm with (the) coronavirus. Parts of the social fabric that keep violence in check just aren't operating at regular capacity. People are stressed and they don't have the normal social outlets to go to."

Jackson Police Chief James Davis echoed Priester's comments and said police chiefsin cities comparable to Jackson are seeing a similar rise in violence.

"It's not just Jackson," Davis said. "You're seeing a rise in gun-related homicides across the nation. I believe itstems from a number of things, unemployment, someone getting evicted, a lack of conflict resolution skills. People have been under quarantine with one another through it all, so you're also seeing more disagreements."

Several major cities in the U.S., including Chicago andLos Angeles, have also reported increasesover recentyears, said Adam Bercovici, a retired Los Angeles Police Department lieutenantand policing expert.Hesaid it has had an effect on police officers as well, making them less willing to engage within the community.

"I think the police (are)less willing to put themselves out there and I think the criminal element understands that and is willing to take advantage of that," he said. "One of the deterrents toward crime that's a big discussion pointis proactivepolicing ...meaning you don't just go from call to call, you actually look for things."

Jackson officer shortage, low pay

Officialsnotedmost of the city's shootings are the result of interpersonal, or domesticconflict with one or more parties.

"The police can't be there when a guy shoots and kills his mother or thissister, or an argument over a woman leads to a shooting," Lumumba said. "Police funding is one piece of the puzzle.The truth is it'sgoing to take all of us — the police, faith leaders, business leaders, the administration, the youth — to play a role."

Another factor: JPD is short 100 officers and face low pay inside the department.As of 2017, starting pay for Jackson Police officerswas $27,000, and increases to $32,000 after one year. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average payfor patrolofficers in Mississippi hovers around $36,000.

"We must have more officers, more quality officers," City Council President Aaron Banks said, adding that numerous changes need to be made within the police department to address the spike, including increasing base pay for officers to retain staff and improve morale.

The department is short almost 25% of its normal operating budget, amounting to approximately76 patrol officers and 10 of 17 homicide detectives, according to Davis.

"One of the biggest deterrents is through visibility," Banks said. "There's not enough visibility. Someone can drive from south Jackson to north Jackson and not see a police officer."

'This is a manpower crisis': Understaffed JPD faces budget cut as violent crime rises

Banks and Priester said the council is mulling over current budget negotiations for the next fiscal year andare attempting to alleviate that issue by raising the base pay of officers and possibly providing merit-based pay increases to more senior officers.

The discussions are complicated by the coronavirus outbreak's impact on the city's economy. Like other cities, Jackson has lost out on sales, hotel and restaurant tax revenue and receipts due to the months long shutdowns of businesses and city-owned properties.

Homicide commonalities

There are several common characteristics to the bloodshed.A clear majority of the homicides, close to 96%, are the result of gun violence. Most — about 70% — are the result of interpersonal disputes and the victims are overwhelmingly AfricanAmerican.

Davis, the Jackson police chief, said he has noticed the increase by the calls the department has been getting in recent months. The department responded to 24 shootings in August alone. Fifteen people died in those shootings.

He listed off the particular circ*mstances as an indication of "the increasing social anxiety of the community."

Shootings into vehicles have become a frequent occurrence.Other shootings have taken placein front of a funeral home, in motels or motel parking lots, apartments and apartment parking lots and on or near major highways.In onecase, two people were shot while walking down the street.

Social media, lack of police presence fueling violence, JSU professor says

Kevin Lavine, professor of criminal justice at Jackson State University and a former Jackson police officer, said he believes the problem in Jackson is multifaceted. Because people now have access to social media, disputes are happening and escalating more frequently, which leads to altercations that often turn deadly.

“The crime rate is exploding due to the influx of social media use, followed by the lack of problem resolution skills,” he said. “In the past, when people had a disagreement, you were usually face-to-face or a message had to be carried. Now, people are getting instant responses to [personal conflicts] … and people are responding with violence.”

Lavine said another problem going on in Jackson are retaliatory feuds across the city. In previous years, he said some violent confrontations were limited to gang activity, but today, certain neighborhoods in different parts of the city are engaging one another.

“In the past, you had this gang or that gang, but now this has morphed into an entire neighborhood feud, like North Jackson versus West Jackson, so there’s a lot of that going on.”

But policing in Jackson presents its own problems.Because JPDhasn’t able tofillmany of itsopen positions, criminals have been emboldened by the lack of police presence, Lavine said.

“The criminal element knows JPD is having a shortage. They know they can’t be everywhere, so now they have no fear,” he said.

Violent crime on the rise around the county

A lack of accountability stemming from officers' reluctance to engage for fear of being vilified has also emboldened some criminals to take advantage of the situation, Bercovicisaid.

"I think part of what the police force does in an ideal world is it holds its citizens accountable," he said. "When you look at the origins of policing, it was created to protect life and property and restore order. That's what modern policing is based on. So without those, this is gonna happen. You're gonna have some lawlessness."

Bercovici believes the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacton the economy have also likely played a role in the current climate.

"I think we're also seeing a kind of division in our culture again," he said. "There are people that have kept their jobs and can work from home and have some of the benefits and then you have a big segment of the population that doesn't have all of those. For them,it's gotta be frustrating and terrifying, and maybe they act out (because of it)."

Despite the reasons given for an increase in homicides across the city, Banks, the city council president, said city officials need to take responsibility and put in placenecessary measures to stem the rising death toll.

"At the end of the day, there's no excuse from us," Banks said."This is our city, the capital city, and we need to do better."

Contact Justin Vicory at 769-572-1418 or jvicory@gannett.com. Follow @justinvicory on Twitter. Contact Keisha Rowe at 601-760-2483, via email at nrowe@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter.