More than 160 people attended a meeting Monday night at St. John’s United Methodist Church to address what they believe may be a growing crime problem in Greenwood.
Mayor Carolyn McAdams said she appreciated the turnout, which largely represented North Greenwood but also attracted residents from other parts of the city.
“Crime is out there, and we’re trying our best to prevent all of this crime,” she said.
McAdams was accompanied by Ward 1’s Johnny Jennings and Ward 2’s Lisa Cookston, who represent portions of North Greenwood; Greenwood Police Chief Ray Moore; and Assistant Police Chief Marvin Hammond. Similar meetings are in the works for the other wards.
Jennings said the community needs to get involved.
“To get a problem solved, it takes everybody. It takes the Police Department; it takes neighbors looking after neighbors,” he said.
Telling the crowd that “your concerns are my concerns,” Moore said the usual spike in petty crimes around the holidays has been compounded by a recent spate of home invasions.
“You’ve started watching out for each other. You’ve started communicating amongst yourselves. Arrests have been made as a result,” Moore said.
The police “can’t be everywhere all the time,” and they depend on the public for help, he said.
“You know who your neighbor is. You know who belongs in your neighborhood. If you see a strange car riding around, call us. We’ll check it out.”
Common-sense precautions can also deter crime, the chief said. In auto-burglary cases that the police have investigated, “every vehicle was unlocked,” Moore said.
Shun Pearson, the founder of Mississippi Delta Cease Fire, said the youth of South Greenwood are underserved and have lost hope, prompting some of them to resort to crime.
“Our young people in the Mississippi Delta have unique circumstances against them. They are lashing out now, doing outlandish things,” he said.
Changing the situation will require providing additional resources to help young people, both in and out of school, he said.
North Greenwood resident Les Shelby said he’s been hit by break-ins nine times since moving back home in July. As a result, he said, he has lost $20,000 worth of guns out of his mother’s house and his car. Thieves even broke into the home while his mother was there, he said.
Shelby said he hasn’t heard anything back from the police regarding the stolen property.
Moore said he was unaware of the incidents.
Jim Wellborn Jr. asked Moore about the “Castle Doctrine,” regarding the legal use of deadly force by potential crime victims both inside and outside the home.
“You have the right to use deadly force to protect yourself or someone else from serious bodily injury or death at home, in your vehicle, in your place of business or anywhere where you have a legal right to be,” the chief said.
Mary Fountain claimed that there are an insufficient number of police officers on the streets and questioned the department’s change from eight-hour to 12-hour shifts.
Moore said that the shift change has actually allowed him to increase the patrol force. He said a bigger problem than staff numbers is finding qualified prospects to hire as officers.
Of the 150 applications he currently has on file, about “half of them need to be inmates,” he said. “I’m serious.”
Three of the applicants had outstanding warrants against them, according to Moore.
McAdams said the community must step forward.
“All of us have two eyes, all of us have a phone, and we can contact the police, and they can be there in three minutes’ time,” she said.
Jelani Barr, who successfully sued the Police Department over an arrest earlier this year, claimed that a poorly trained and supervised police force and weak leadership at City Hall are to blame for the crime problem.
He said that he and Pearson presented a comprehensive crime-prevention plan to the City Council earlier this year, but it got a lukewarm response.
Although some of those who spoke complimented the responsiveness of the police, others questioned what they perceived to be a lackadaisical attitude.
Chris McQueen, chief organizer of the Northeast Greenwood Neighborhood Watch, said police did not much try to track down the person who stole his cellphone even though McQueen provided officers with proof that it was still being used by the thief.
Vikki Pilecki said she was alarmed at the slow response time of police after hearing gunshots in her neighborhood — 19 minutes. Moore said that night officers were responding to several calls simultaneously.
Moore gave out his personal cell number — 299-4921 — for residents to call if they are having problems getting police to respond to their questions.
Abe McGlothin Sr. said he’s had $10,000 in property taken during repeated break-ins at his Carrollton Avenue home and rental property he owns nearby. He said he has put up metal bars on windows and security cameras at his home, but the frustration with crime is taking its toll. His wife is now “talking about wanting to move out” of South Greenwood, he said.
“I don’t want to leave.”
North Greenwood resident Robert Cole, who recently faced off against a home intruder, said he would have been justified in using deadly force. “Had my kids been there, would I have shot? I don’t know,” he said.
“I’m not trying to scare everybody, but if you think, ‘Well, it happened to this guy; it’s not going to happen over here,’ you don’t know,” Cole said.
Dr. Mary Carol Miller said that the meeting, which ran more than 1½ hours, was productive and that “people needed a chance to ventilate.”
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
