Jackson City Council asks U.S. Attorney's Office to prosecute gun crimes involving felons

Joshua Williams, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
·2 min read
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A Jackson Police Department vehicle is shown in this 2019 photo.
A Jackson Police Department vehicle is shown in this 2019 photo.

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes of Ward 3 has recommended that violent criminal cases involving felons with guns be referred to the United States Attorney's Office for federal prosecution.

Those cases are currently being handled locally.

Stokes said in a Tuesday council meeting not long after speaking with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that the council should take a broad approach.

"I feel they want to help the city with the crime issues," Stokes said. "The constant issue that we run into is our police is significantly understaffed, which leads to what some consider as too much crime in Jackson. This particular step I believe will help the city in a powerful way."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said they will continue to accept prosecutable cases from the Jackson Police Department with help of federal law enforcement as well as the Hinds County District Attorney.

"As part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood Initiative, in 2015, if not before, the United States Attorney’s office designated the City of Jackson as a site to receive federal law enforcement, prevention, outreach and prosecution assistance to combat violent crime," The U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. "We have and will continue to accept prosecutable cases from the Jackson Police Department with the help of our federal law enforcement partners and in collaboration with the Hinds County District Attorney."

Stokes said he didn't have the statistics to back it up but believes most of the crime done in Jackson is being done by felons that have gained access to guns.

The council later passed a vote 6 to 0 to turn such cases over to the U.S. Attorney's Office, with one abstention by Councilman Brian Grizzell of Ward 4.

"We know that it is against the law for a felon to have a gun but they feel it's better to have it and don't need it rather than to need it and don't have it," Stokes said. "That criminal thinking is fueling the fire to the criminal activity in Jackson."

Stokes said that carjacking is also on the rise, which he believes could potentially lead to additional murders.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: City asks U.S. Attorney's Office to handle felons guns in Jackson, MS.