The problem of crime in Clarksdale took center stage Monday afternoon with one resident saying she no longer feels safe in her hometown and the city’s mayor vowing to clean up a police department that he claims has been tainted by corruption and ineptitude for some 15 years.
The discussion followed Police Chief Sandra Williams’ assessment of the department a little over a year after she took the job and also comes on the heels of a recent spate of shootings that left one woman dead.
Nicole Powell, who has spent all 40 years of her life in Clarksdale, currently lives on School Street, which is a block away where a woman was killed Oct. 29. That night, Powell said she and her family hit the floor of their home as they heard the nearby gunfire.
She said, normally, there are children who go house to house in her neighborhood trick-or-treating on Halloween. In the wake of this year’s shooting, she said there were no trick-or-treaters.
“Everybody’s scared,” Powell said. “We should be feeling safe in our city.”
And she said that’s no longer the case. Powell questioned if commissioners and city officials were fully aware of how bad crime has gotten in Clarksdale.
“If the board ain’t standing behind us and protecting us, then we need to go to other options,” Powell said. “If you can’t do the job, maybe we need to get somebody else. I’m just being honest. It’s just gotten ridiculous.”
Mayor Chuck Espy said he’s well aware of hearing gunshots at night.
He first heard them when he moved back inside the city, to a home on Ashton Avenue, about five years ago. And he also heard them about three months ago from his new residence at the corner of Bloom Street and Ritchie Avenue.
“Everyone told me about gunshots in the city of Clarksdale. And at that time, when there was a previous administration, I honestly didn’t believe what everyone was telling me,” Espy said. “When I heard the first gunshots, I couldn’t believe it. Then I heard the next gunshots, and it was so close, I heard it whistle down the alley.
“And guess what I had to instruct my family to do? Get on the floor. I had to actually instruct my family to sleep on the floor,” Espy told Powell, adding, “I am with you on your pain. I got it.”
Espy said when he first took office in July 2017, the worst department was the police department and that remains so today. He says there were issues with insubordination, alleged corruption and the inability of officers to properly fill out reports.
And that’s why he and commissioners opted for a leader from outside the county when they hired Williams as the city’s first female African-American police chief on Aug. 28, 2017. Williams came to Clarksdale after serving as chief of investigations for the Vicksburg Police Department. She also served as captain, lieutenant and sergeant criminal investigator in Vicksburg, as well as handling the duties of a public information officer.
Espy said he gave himself a two-year window to clean up the department.
“We knew that it had internal problems,” he said. “We knew we had to have an outsider come and clean up the inside. If you constantly put the inside people back at the top, nothing would change.”
The mayor believes the problems go back 15 years.
Williams said she has been hearing a lot from the community regarding the rise in the number of homicides in Clarksdale. There have been 11 murders in the city this year.
She said there have been arrests in seven of those cases and believes another could come once officers receive reports from the crime scene lab. She said they “are actively working” the other three homicides.
“The Clarksdale Police Department will continue to be concerned about what goes on in the city and we will continue to work extremely hard in an attempt to solve these homicides,” Williams said.
The police chief said she also hears complaints from the community about her not being from Clarksdale and that she doesn’t care about Clarksdale.
“I live here in Clarksdale, I’ve purchased a home here in Clarksdale. And everything that goes on in Clarksdale, where law enforcement is concerned, where your safety is concerned, is very important to me,” Williams said. “We will not stop working every day as a unit in an effort to prevent some of the crime that is going on in our community.”
She said the rash of shootings in the community “was a concern for everybody.”
She also said reports of there only being three officers on patrol at one time as being false.
“At any given time, we will have at least five officers on the street,” Williams said, noting that there is a standing order in place to approve overtime if there is a shortage of officers.
Williams said the department numbers are currently down to 33 officers instead of the 38 that’s been budgeted by the city. During Monday’s meeting, the commissioners agreed to make offers of employment to five new officers to bring that number up to 38.
“You look at that department and you see folks getting moved around and folks not here anymore. And there’s a reason for that,” Espy said. “The five of us have a commitment to clean this mess up.”
“You asked me, as the mayor, to come clean this garbage up. And you know what? I’m here to take the trash out,” he said.
With 25-plus years in law enforcement, Williams brings experience, although this is her first job as a police chief. She said when she began her time in Clarksdale she “felt that I knew exactly what it took to get it done right.” But she quickly admits, “Oh, how wrong I was.”
“It’s been one of those situations where it’s difficult for people to recognize and accept change,” Williams said.
Espy said, “We gave everybody six months to get it right and then after that point we started going down a row of corrective actions. We’re not interested in protecting bad officers… none of us are.”
Those corrective actions have included the termination of officers and suspensions with and without pay, as well as additional training that includes things such as anger management and customer service.
In addition to Monday's approval to hire a consultant with a background in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the city police department continues to partner with other law enforcement agencies (such as the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation; Mississippi Highway Patrol; and private cold case firms) to assist in investigations.
Commissioner Bo Plonk said they are well aware of the crime problems, evident by their motion to hire new officers. He applauded Powell and urged her to continue to keep them updated on what is going on in her community.
“Keep coming and keep telling this board: Are we doing better? Are we doing worse,” Plonk said.
Commissioner Willie Turner echoed Plonk’s comments as he said, “I vow to be a voice for the people. What you feel, I feel.”
Commissioner Ed Seals said Powell’s sentiments are being voiced by many throughout Clarksdale. He said the city is seeking help from outside organizations, such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to take on the fight against drug trafficking and gang crime. Seals also said he’d like to see a gang task force started here.
“We’re going to work extremely hard to make Clarksdale safer,” he said. “None of us are satisfied with what is going on.”
Williams said her main focus continues to be “the safety of the people in this community.”
She said, “Our concern is your safety and we’re going to do the best job we possibly can as law enforcement officers to make you safe in your community.”
