Jackson seeks $125 million under controversial federal policing grant
By Molly Minta | Originally published by Mississippi Today
Mississippi’s capital city is a finalist for a U.S. Department of Justice grant that could pump tens of millions of dollars into its police department, a surge of funding that Jackson officials have said would be used to rebuild the city’s forensic laboratory, hire more officers and expand surveillance of violent crime, including using artificial intelligence to track potential criminals.
Other Democratic-led cities, including Charlotte and New Orleans, declined to apply for the grant, which will require participating municipalities to cooperate with certain Trump administration priorities, including immigration enforcement and a ban on public sleeping.
In Jackson, which has some of the highest homicide rates in the nation, Mayor John Horhn said he had not heard from any constituents who are concerned the grant could result in a federal takeover of the Jackson Police Department.
“I haven’t seen one bit of concern or criticism about our going after this grant,” Horhn told Mississippi Today. “In fact, most people are happy to hear that we might be able to get a tremendous amount of resources that can help with crime fighting.”
Jackson is requesting $125 million over three years.
Unlike other federal law enforcement grants, the Model Cities Initiative will be administered through a “cooperative agreement,” giving the DOJ a more active role in implementation.
In a statement, the ACLU of Mississippi called on the city to be transparent with residents about the grant before any agreement is finalized, adding that it was concerned the funding would require JPD to adopt an aggressive approach to policing that could jeopardize Jacksonians’ civil liberties.
“Jackson deserves investments in public safety that build trust, address the root causes of violence, and protect the rights of all residents,” said Lydia Grizzell, the advocacy manager of the ACLU of Mississippi.
Jackson Police Chief RaShall Brackney, who did not respond to an interview request, was invited to brief federal officials on the city’s application on Oct. 1. The DOJ has not yet announced which two to four cities will receive the new Model Cities Initiative grant, part of a federal initiative to “Make America Safe Again.”
In the city’s grant application, which Mississippi Today obtained through a public records request, JPD argued that Jackson’s “violent-crime problem is fundamentally a lack of system capacity.”
The department noted that its officers frequently work in silos. In one example, JPD wrote that even though officers have access to federal ballistics data, the department’s case-management system shows no “leads formally linked to an arrest or conviction,” according to the grant application.
“This reflects a tracking gap, not an absence of investigative value.”
The department proposed spending much of the potential $125 million award on solving these gaps, including creating a specialized gun crimes unit focused on “repeat shooters,” expanding JPD’s network of cameras housed at the Real Time Command Center, and creating a database that would link 911 calls to the addresses of burned-out homes, illegal dumping sites and other code enforcement complaints.
“It is the infrastructure behind Jackson’s vision of becoming ‘The City That Responds Before It Arrives’: seeing the threat, understanding the condition, directing the right resource, and intervening before it becomes the next crime, emergency, or community crisis,” the department wrote.
JPD also proposed using $10 million to fund a victim advocate unit that would “connect victims to advocacy from the first 911 calls,” $10 million to create a reentry council that would monitor “high-risk reentry cases,” and $22 million on rebuilding the forensic center.
“Its current capability is limited to testing green leafy substances,” the city wrote.
The Jackson City Council gave Brackney the authority to apply for the grant earlier this year. The agenda item passed with no discussion.
The city’s grant application was supported by letters from state and local law enforcement officials, including Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones, then-Capitol Police Chief Bo Luckey, Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch.
Jackson “provides an opportunity that no other city can replicate to demonstrate that surging personnel and resources and working in partnership across federal, state and local levels can reduce criminal activity, restore law and order, and positively impact the quality of life for residents in high crime jurisdictions,” Fitch wrote in an Aug. 13 letter. “Simply put, Jackson, Mississippi is the best opportunity to provide the underlying hypothesis of the Model Cities Initiative.”
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
