JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Neighbors gathered to rally against the Jackson Police Department’s (JPD) Ticket, Arrest and Tow (TAT) initiative and crime in the Capitol City on Saturday, February 26.
Protestors met at Jackson City Hall to express their disapproval of JPD’s TAT initiative. They stated that it’s causing more problems than it’s solving.
Community leaders believe JPD should be making more efforts to serve citizens in the community instead of adding to the hardship of those living in moderate-to-low income neighborhoods.
“We want the police officers to learn the people they patrol. You run a community, but you don’t know anybody in the community. The community is the number one source of solving crimes. If you turn your back on the community, if you build a distrust and if the community doesn’t trust you, then they will not help you with crimes,” said community leader James Hopkins.
“Uplift the community to actually attack the real sources of crime, which is poverty. If you’re not targeting poverty first, you have no business building a jail. That’s just the fact of it,” said Jackson State University student Bezaleel Jupiter.
Hopkins plans to host a series of rallies throughout Jackson to create a space for discussion about solutions in underserved communities.