The rise in gun violence within Clarksdale has the attention of city officials, perhaps none more so than commissioner Ed Seals, whose home was two blocks away from a shooting on Thanksgiving afternoon.
During Monday’s meeting of the Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners, Seals questioned Police Chief Sandra Williams if there had been “a shootout” on Evans Street between 2 and 3 p.m. Thursday.
Williams said “it was not a shootout, but it was a shooting” where shots were fired into a home. She said police have one person in custody in relation to the incident.
Seals also asked if the city had begun to form a gang task force.
“Right now, it’s just in discussion,” Williams said, adding that there is a meeting planned for the first week of December to begin the formation of a task force.
Seals pointed to work done by a similar unit in Memphis that, he said, resulted in the arrests of some 30 gang members and seized a large amount of assault weapons and drugs.
“A gang task force, if put into place effectively, can bring about a result that would help reduce the crime rate here in Clarksdale,” Seals said.
During a meeting held Wednesday, Nov. 21, the board of commissioners unanimously agreed to hire three new certified police officers. Those new officers are Kenneth Davis, of Columbus; William Levy, of Charleston; and George Sultani, of Clarksdale.
With their hiring, the Clarksdale Police Department now numbers 38 officers, including those in administration, Williams said.
