Mississippi lawmakers voted this Wednesday to increase the power of a state police agency that was criticized for shooting four people in Jackson last summer.
In an effort to increase control over law enforcement in the predominantly-Black, Democratic-led capital, Republican state officials sought to expand the Mississippi Capitol Police to cover all of Jackson.
The measure was passed by the state Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, on Thursday and Friday. It was rejected by Jackson legislators. Now it goes to the governor. Republican Tate Reeves. Another related measure, which was also approved this week, creates a temporary court system that is not under the control of the city. It will be staffed by judges appointed by chief justice of the state Supreme Court and prosecutors appointed from the state attorney general. This would handle lower-level cases in the Capitol Complex Improvement District.
“I believe it is the right thing to protect criminal activity and help Jackson, and it is my hope that this bill will assist,” stated Trey Lamar (Republican) who was an author of the bill creating the new court.
State Senator John Horhn from Jackson, a Black Democrat, has supported the Capitol Police and said he agreed with the need for the city to tackle its crime problem. He said to his colleagues that the “way this looks” says something. It plays right into the stereotypical ideas the rest of the country holds about Mississippi.
Reeves’ office didn’t immediately respond to a request of comment.
Proponents of the bills stated that they wanted to help Jackson cope with record killings and a overburdened justice system. Since it began patrolling Jackson outside of state buildings last year, some residents have welcomed Capitol Police. They believe the city requires more officers as the Jackson Police Department is understaffed.
The Capitol Police has been criticized for not being transparent in the four shootings that resulted in the deaths of a father and a mother. The agency operates beyond city officials’ oversight and has policies regarding force use and car chases that haven’t been updated since 2006. The Capitol Police has not provided any explanations for the shootings. They remain under investigation by Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. According to the department, it will soon update its policies regarding force and chases.
One of the bills passed this week states that the Department of Public Safety would have primary jurisdiction over the Capitol Complex Improvement District. This 8.7-mile area of Jackson includes both government buildings downtown and outlying neighborhoods. The Capitol Police started patrolling the area last summer. The bill would allow the Capitol Police to make arrests and patrol any area of the city.
Another bill passed this week was about the temporary court that will handle crimes in the Capitol Complex Improvement District. The bill would extend the district to the north, and south, in July 2024. It would also end the operations of the court in 2027. Although the bill doesn’t focus on Capitol Police, it states that officers of the agency must be equipped with body cameras.
Mississippi Capitol Police’s growing role in Jackson
- The Mississippi Capitol Police created a street-crime unit last summer to patrol Jackson’s neighborhoods beyond the boundaries of government buildings.
- This agency is unusually powerful for a state capitol police force. It has been criticised for its aggressive patrols in the predominantly-Black city.
- A Capitol Police car chase ended in December with a 49-year-old innocent woman who was lying in bed when was shot in the arm . Surveillance video seems to show the moment that an officer opened fire.
This week, the state Senate and House debated the bills for hours. The authors, Republicans from outside Jackson, defended the measures against attacks from Democratic Jackson lawmakers. They claimed that the sponsors were giving the city solutions without consulting local officials. Critics called it racist.
Rep. Edward Blackmon Jr. from Madison County, north of Jackson said that the Capitol Police had no accountability for Friday’s incident. This is not possible elsewhere in Mississippi. This is because of our race, which is the only one that is subject to this type of process.”
Rep. Nick Bain (a Republican from Alcorn County and more than 200 miles away from Jackson) said Friday that he couldn’t heal the wounds caused by racism, but said he was trying to help Jackson residents who feel unsafe.
Bain stated, “That’s all that we’re trying do is have a greater presence and a greater force to protect the capital that I love, which we all love,”
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba didn’t immediately respond to our requests for comment. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety did not respond to requests for comment.
Bracey Harris contributed.
