- Mississippi Free Press

In-Depth

Jackson Senators Push for Big Funding for Jails, Police Over Reversing Crime Causes

State senators from Jackson are asking the Mississippi Legislature for millions of dollars to help fund additional police and misdemeanor jail beds to keep those charged with low-level crimes who cannot afford bail locked up as a strategy to prevent violence as it rises in the capital city, they say. They are not asking for funds to support earlier interventions that a BOTEC Analysis study of Jackson crime recommended in 2016—which the Legislature authorized for $500,000 in taxpayer dollars. Kayode Crown reports.

Kayode Crown February 7, 2022

In-Depth

Strong Arms of JXN: Credible Messengers Use Experiences to Prevent Violence

John Knight, Terun Moore and Benny Ivey have all experienced life in prison and now mentor criminal-justice-system-involved young people as credible messengers with the Strong Arms of JXN, which launched in 2018. The Strong Arms of JXN gathers formerly incarcerated individuals devoted to showing young people alternate paths from the ones they at one point chose and have since turned away from.

Kayode Crown January 25, 2022

MFP Voices

I’m Grateful For Grandma’s Faith: ‘My Saving Grace’ During Incarceration

“None of us is as bad as the worst decision we’ve made. And none of us can navigate this life we’ve been blessed with on our own—however that life looks and wherever it might take us,” Terun Moore writes.

Terun Moore December 2, 2021

Tate Reeves at podium with uniformed officers on either side

In-Depth

Governor’s Policing Surge in Jackson May Not Prevent Violence, Address Causes

Parts of Mississippi’s capital city is seeing a “saturation” of additional police presence that Gov. Tate Reeves promises will counter a spike in crime and violence that has worsened since the pandemic began. But violence experts warn that a swelling police presence may not be effective, and it actually harm communities.

Julian Mills July 20, 2021