I don’t like putting numbers on homicide statistics. That human being was somebody’s son, brother, maybe even a daddy and they will never be just a number.
But this column is a lot about numbers.
You will find my news articles are full of numbers, because numbers are hard facts. Two is always two, not three or 1.999999. Two-plus-two always equals four and four-minus-two always equals two. You get my point.
And the point is you can argue the numbers but that doesn’t change them.
Numbers are hard data and, while you can pick the numbers you want to use, it’s easy to spot the weaknesses when someone skews the numbers.
Justice for all
We have had 11 homicides in Clarksdale this year and 12 if you count the one involving a 13-year-old just outside the city limits in Eastgate Subdivision.
Three of those murdered were teenagers. And let’s not forget the 10-year-old shot in Friars Point on Christmas Eve.
We know one of the alleged shooters was a teenager. I will not guess at what the total number of teen-shooters might be because it makes me shudder.
Maybe the scariest number is of the 12 murders this year, only three arrests have been formally announced.
I am repeatedly asked how many unsolved murders we have in this community. I’ve only been here five years. It’s obvious I barely have enough fingers to count this year’s total. I probably don’t have enough toes to tally up the last five years.
These families and this community need justice.
Police are your friends
Let’s not lay this situation solely in the lap of the Clarksdale Police Department or the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Mario Magsby has only been on the job six months and he had to clean house after the election, reducing his staff. Our Coahoma County Board of Supervisors is currently looking at your county budget and I hope they have an eye on adequately funding our Sheriff’s Department.
There are places they can cut and mills that can be reduced or allocated elsewhere. Economic development, personnel and giving away money to favorite agencies that offer little in return are a good place to start.
The Clarksdale Police Department currently has two investigators and 23 sworn officers on its roster.
And the 23 sworn officers is the number I’m looking at. It takes six people to put one person in a patrol car seven days a week 24-hours a day. That means we have 3.833 people on a shift at any given time.
Please remember one of those patrol officers is a shift captain who manages the 2.8 officers on the street and stands ready to go when the stuff hits the fan.
These guys desperately need the help of the eyes and ears of Clarksdale and Coahoma County to solve crime.
I was raised by parents who told me the policeman is your friend. As I grew older I found out he can be your friend or your foe and he is paid to be both! I learned to try and make him my friend.
Support Police
We commend our city for voting for $110,000 in overtime for police in May.
Clarksdale once has a police force of over 40. They had a drug task force and officers who specialized in juvenile crime. Did you see the story on Page One where Ed Seals asked for a task force? We barely have enough police to cover the community.
Did you know the city offers to pay a veteran policeman $44,122 a year? But nobody wants the job.
Why?
Do you remember in June 2020 when Chuck Espy stood on the stage and chanted “No Justice, No Peace” as support for law enforcement plummeted across this country? Do you remember a less than a year later the city voted themselves massive pay raises? Did you see the mayor reading the agenda as our police chief talked about crime at this week’s board meeting?
Clarksdale has women who go to sleep at night wondering if someone is going to break into their house. We have men who wonder if their tools, TV and air conditioner will be at their house when they get home tonight. We have kids who have nothing better to do and have turned to these mean streets for money and excitement.
We must support law enforcement in our community.
The cost is too high if we don’t.
So let’s get back to numbers.
How much value do you put on a life in Clarksdale?
Floyd Ingram is Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register and has chased cops for more than 30 years. His number is 662-627-2201 if you want to talk numbers.
