The Precinct 4 Community Oriented Policing & Government group (COPS) met at the Precinct 4 Headquarters on Thursday, January 25, 2007. Bob Oertel called the meeting to order at 5:30 and led us through introductions.

Reports
Bob Oertel noted that while stray dogs have long been a problem in Mid-town, they are now becoming a problem north of Woodrow Wilson as well. Since there are only two animal control officers for all of Jackson, we may need to urge City Council to increase the number.

The leaf pickup schedule has been announced. Those who have garbage collection on

• Tuesdays and Fridays will have their leaves collected by January 20
• Wednesdays and Saturdays by February 1
• Monday and Thursday by February 20

At the next meeting, we will need to elect a new secretary as Jim White has retired from Fondren Presbyterian will be moving back to North Carolina at the end of February. We have appreciated his service to the Jackson community over the years and his presence will be sorely missed. Bob Oertel will remain Moderator of P4COPS but is looking for help in coordinating speakers and agenda.

Bob Oertel reported he had received an e-mail from Elta Livingston regarding Cherokee Heights Park. Please find this information by clicking here...

Zoning & Environmental Court Issues
A resident reported that a house on Parkway Drive has been without power since October. The resident is using a generator to provide power and it is very loud. It was noted this is in violation of city and state ordinance. Mr. Joseph Lewis, Director of Community Improvement promised to check on it very quickly.

A resident reported complaints about dumpster and garbage trucks in Belhaven as early as 4:30 a.m. on several occasions. Since Councilman Ben Allen complained about this and brought it to the attention of Public Works, the problem should have been solved already.

A lengthy discussion resulted when a resident told of a friend who is an out-of-town landlord for a house on Old Canton Road who is having a lot of trouble with an elderly renter who has trashed the house and is selling “diet pills” with his partner. Mr. Lewis of Community Improvement promised to flag this property so that the first step can be taken to allow the landlord to evict the renter.

A number of abandoned cars were reported:
-5121 Parkway- 1 abandoned car
-5128 Parkway- 3 abandoned cars
-Cowen at Woodale- 1 abandoned car
-Mr. Lewis noted all cars must have a current tag and inspection sticker. Cars cannot remain inoperable for more than 120 days before they are in violation.
-Mr. Lewis requested that we call or e-mail him with violations. He noted that every minute speaking to him after the address and violation has been reported is a minute he cannot be doing something about the problem. Short and sweet is all that is needed. His e-mail is jlewis@city.jackson.ms.us and his phone numbers are: 601.960.2036 & 601.720.9870 (cell). A quick call will get quick results.

Regarding Environmental Court, Mr. Lewis reported that the most recent Environmental Court was the first time all those found guilty were sentenced to jail time, though some were given suspended sentences.
-14 South Crowne Point- the resident has received a third warrant for arrest.
-1724-25 St. Mary Street- we can expect a resolution in early spring. Demolition cases will be addressed in the very near future.

Several residents complained about parking in yards. Some people pave their front yards or dump cheap gravel on them. But everyone has to get a permit to spend more than $1,500 on home improvements. Community Improvement will be checking on zoning violations at the various reported properties.
-102 Canton Hills Drive- the resident selling cars has a court date set already.

Identity Theft
Quality of Life Officer Barbara Folsom noted that with the increased concern about identity theft, there will be free shredding of up to five bags of documents at Home Depot on February 9 from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

In other community service, St. Dominic will have a 5-mile walk for obesity in June.

COMSTAT
In the absence of Commander Sansom, Sgt. Williams reported there has been an increase in auto burglaries. There were 11 last week and 32 this week.

There has been a dramatic decrease in violent crimes recently. There were 9 last year and only 3 in the corresponding period this year. (The span of this period was not noted)

A question about reported gang activity around the library in late afternoon led to the report that units chased down one juvenile recently and have increased their patrols around the library. It was reported that several young men in their early 20s were gathering on the library steps on a recent evening at 6:30 p.m. Sgt. Williams promised to continue to investigate and patrol that area.

He noted that residents should always keep a close eye on their surroundings, citing a recent car-jacking that could have been prevented had the driver been paying more attention to his surroundings. The police do not have the personnel to be everywhere all the time and need all the help from citizens they can get. One resident reported an attempted armed robbery after dark. The license plate of the get-away vehicle was not illuminated.

Encouraging JPD to stop vehicles for minor infractions, one resident told of driving his car for 15 days with no tag because he had ordered a vanity plate and had only a piece of paper in his glove box but no tag, temporary or otherwise. He was not stopped. Some feel that stopping vehicles sans proper identification will help lead to more arrests in areas of auto theft and other crimes.

Bob Oertel repeated his ongoing request to JPD to make COMSTAT or other crime reports for 2005 and 2006 available to the public so areas with a high frequency of crimes can be targeted.

Crime Summit
Several members left at 6:00 to attend the Crime Summit. We will discuss whether or not we want to change our meeting time at the next P4COPS meeting.

Community Response & Responsibility for Mental Health
Ms. Tamara Thomas, a mental health professional with Hinds County was our speaker. In dealing with neighbors who have mental health issues, there are three possible courses of action.

1. Any concerned citizen can file commitment papers for someone they think is a danger to himself or herself and the community at large. Legal retaliation is a problem with this course of action.

2. A citizen can file a “disturbing the peace” complaint The citizen will have to show up in court, however, and space in mental health facilities is limited. In addition to the state mental hospital at Whitfield, St. Dominic, Brentwood, and Central Mississippi Medical Center have mental health units. A judge can sign a commitment order for up to 72-hours.

3. The Department of Human Services has an Adult Protective Services unit. They can visit someone suspected of mental health issues. This provides anonymity for citizens

Obstacles to good mental health services are:
-Money for outpatient transportation.
-Money for the Medicare match required by law.
-Money for the Medicaid patients cut off.
-Housing for the mentally ill since many of our homeless are mentally ill.

Noise Ordinance
Susan Lunardini reported on various aspects related to the city’s noise ordinance.
-Commander Sansom and others like the decibel-measuring device that was tested recently. It is the highest quality unit made and is used by a number of cities. She will trying to raise money to buy them and get training for up the 25 officers. After Chief Shirlene Anderson approves the unit, money-raising will begin. The costs are: $1,139 for 12 or more; $1,300 for 5-10; $1,500 for less than 5. Training costs $900.
-The City ordinance has a very low decibel standard that was set without much forethought. The current level is around 50 decibels at 100 feet. That is way too low since heavy traffic averages 59 decibels. A standard around 80 would be far more realistic. City Council is aware of this problem,.

D.U.I. Certification
Quality of Life Officer Folsom reported that all JPD officers are certified in using the sobriety machines housed in each precinct but very few are certified in administering “field sobriety tests.” Drivers suspected of driving under the influence are brought to the station where the permanent machine can be used. This leads to a much higher certainty that the driver is or is not legally drunk (handles scrutiny of trial better than field machines), but also leads to more officer time per incident. There are many different areas of law enforcement, and not all police officers are certified in all areas. Training does take time from the field and it costs money to run the programs for certification.

Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Thursday, February 22, 2007. We will elect a new secretary and focus on leadership for P4COPS in addition to Bob Oertel.