For the fourth consecutive year, Mississippi’s capital city has surpassed the triple-digit mark in terms of homicides.
In what initially looked like it could have been a less violent year in Jackson, new data obtained by a local TV station found that the Jackson Police Department failed to report 24 homicides. The failure to disclose the additional murders boosted the year-to-date numbers from 78 to 102.
JPD Capt. Abraham Thompson told WLBT that the lapse in communication was “unintentional” and officials are now working to address the issue.
Before the misinformation was revealed by investigative reporter C.J. LeMaster, it had appeared Jackson was in the midst of a 25 percent decrease in homicides. However, the new numbers show that the homicide count is now just one less than the 103 that were being reported this time last year.
For 2022, Jackson recorded 138 homicides after being named “America’s Deadliest Major City” in 2021 with 155 homicides, or 99.5 homicides per 100,000 residents. In 2020, the city began the triple-digit trend with 128 homicides.
Amid the consistently high numbers, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is on record proclaiming that the city is still safe.
“I believe our city is safe,” Lumumba told the media after the 2021 numbers were confirmed. “Most instances of violence that we see in our city are those that are interpersonal. They are not random.”
Over the course of Lumumba’s first six years in office, the homicide rate has almost tripled, going from 35.63 per 100,000 residents in 2017 to 92.1 per 100,000 residents in 2022. Jackson currently has an estimated population of 145,995.
