Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade and Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba boasted some encouraging crime numbers at a public command meeting last week in the capital city. While both were clear that more work is needed, a continuing drop in homicides and solved cases make for a foundation to build on.
Captains of each of the four Jackson police precincts, along with leaders from other units, reported on detailed weekly crime statistics while being prodded with questions by Chief Wade, Mayor Lumumba, and other fellow law enforcement officials. Following the meeting, Wade explained that the added transparency is also an effort to challenge his police department.
“I want to work on being more proactive,” Wade said. “We know that crime increases during the summer months. I want my command staff to look down the road. What does next week look like? What about six months from now?”
Among the highlights of a nearly two-hour meeting was an analysis of the violent crime trends in Mississippi’s largest city.
Homicide rates in Jackson have been a hot-button topic since Lumumba took office in 2017. Murders reached triple digits for a fourth consecutive year in 2023 and nearly tripled in the prior five-year span, increasing from 35.63 per 100,000 residents in 2017 to 92.1 per 100,000 residents in 2022. It sparked renewed efforts from both the city and the state to curb homicides in Jackson.
During the meeting, JPD’s investigative unit noted that they have achieved a 78.33% solvability rate, or clearance rate, meaning that nearly 79% of homicide cases are solved and result in a conviction. It’s a 13.53% improvement compared to the 2023 rate of 65.13%, per Detective Tommie Brown. And the current number also exceeds the national average of 52% by more than 26%, per crime statistics from the FBI.
“This is the overall statistic that lets you know that JPD is doing its job,” Lumumba said. “We are crushing the national average and I think JPD deserves credit for that.”
Wade said the credit should go to both his officers and the community at large.
“The first reason [for improved solvability rates] is the amazing work of the homicide detectives and patrol officers here in the city of Jackson,” Wade said. “But also, the community is involved. The citizens are tired of the chaos and killing and foolishness here.”
Wade also attributed the improvements to an overall growth in numbers for the police force since he was named chief in August 2023.
“Now, we can be more creative,” Wade explained. “When I took the helm, we were at 221 [officers]. The only thing you could do was react. Now, we have 264 – we can be proactive and solve these heinous acts of violence that are happening in the city of Jackson.”
Overall homicides are down in Jackson, too. Total murders dropped from 135 killings in 2022 – the highest per capita rate for any major American city – to 109 in 2023. Jackson’s decrease followed the trend of a 13% overall drop in national violent crime for 2023, according to the FBI. In the first half of 2024, reported statistics from JPD show even lower numbers compared to the first six months of each year since 2020.
There have been 60 homicides in Jackson from January 1 to June 30 in 2024, compared to 66 in 2023, 71 in 2022, and 73 in 2021 at the same points in the calendar. Wade referenced the impressive solvability rates to explain the drop in violence.
“When you arrest people that have a propensity for violence, you take them off the street,” Wade said, adding that JPD is working with state and federal officials to get higher bonds for violent criminals. “We’re seeking federal charges and federal time in prison for these individuals, so they won’t be able to come back to our community and pillage, rape, rob, and kill people.”
