There has been a rash of shots fired in Clarksdale over the past few weeks. Some say we have a gang war on our hands, some say it is simple Hatfield-and-McCoy revenge shooting, we say gunfire in this town should not be tolerated.
And the saddest part is nobody is apparently being held responsible for these crimes. And that includes city fathers and men and women who call themselves community leaders.
Your Clarksdale Press Register feels that “who cares?” attitude is a bigger crime than the rash of shots fired over the past two months. Please don’t take that statement the wrong way: Those hit by bullets – and those put in fear of their life – have our deepest concern and wish for a speedy recovery.
But who is being held responsible for this crime, this blatant violence, in Clarksdale?
A downsized Clarksdale Police Department was working Friday when a 17-year-old was shot in a residential neighborhood in broad daylight. We truly hope for an arrest at some point or at least some details about why that hasn’t happened. We might add the shooting of a 15-year old in a house on West Second has been covered up.
What about the more than $250,000 in SkyCop cameras the city has purchased that are all over this community?
Where are the noble contacts and brave informers in this community who help police keep a lid on the bad guys?
Don’t our Mayor and Commissioners know about three homicides over the past two months, shootings every weekend and gunfire most nights. And this newspaper is only being told what police and our Mayor want us to hear.
Where is the concern by the business community, tourism community, church community, Black community and White community over the shooting of young people in the very heart of our city?
Who is responsible for allowing this culture in our community and then allowing it to get out of hand? Again, nobody is responsible for any of this.
Your Clarksdale Press Register tries to bring you ideas and solutions to community problems. But they are just ink on paper if elected officials and community leaders only shake their heads as they drink their coffee and read the headlines.
We are headed into Spring festival season we hope a more loving nature takes hold of Clarksdale.
We hope city leaders, we hope civic leaders, we hope readers of the Clarksdale Press Register will find answers and solutions and act to stop deadly crimes in Clarksdale.
