Clarksdale mayor Chuck Espy put criminals on notice when local law enforcement officers met at the Expo Center Thursday morning for a public service announcement letting the community know police departments would be stepping up their games.
“It’s very simple,” Espy said. “We told the people of Clarksdale we were going to step up our game and this is what that is. Now, criminals, people out here in the community that are doing wrong, it’s simply warning to say, ‘Guess what? If you do wrong in the city of Clarksdale, that’s what’s coming after you.’
“The people of Clarksdale have a right to be safe and we’re making sure that the good citizens are taken care of, but the people that are committing criminal acts, this is a public service announcement that, ‘Guess what? Get your stuff together or get out of Clarksdale.’”
Coahoma County sheriff Charles Jones, Clarksdale police chief Sandra Williams and several of their officers were present for the announcement and on board with the mission. The two departments will work together.
“We’re just trying to work together and trying to put our resources together and trying to make sure that the citizens are taken care of,” Jones said. “We’re just trying to make sure that we put our resources of the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office, Clarksdale Police Department and so forth – we have to work together. There’s no way we can do it without each other. This is just another way of letting the people know that we are working together.”
Jones said the sheriff’s office and Clarksdale police department formed a task force to deal with issues such as drug enforcement, patrol, burglaries and robberies. Car burglaries have occurred frequently in the community.
“A lot of that is we have to educate our people,” Jones said. “Some of that is an effort of the Clarksdale Police Department and Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office to educate the citizens also because you can’t leave your doors unlocked. You can’t leave your valuables inside your vehicle. Not in 2019, you just can’t do that.”
Williams said, in conjunction with the sheriff’s office, the police department is stepping up its game and attempting to have more visibility by taking to people in public and listening to what citizens have to say.
“We have the patrol division, which is on the streets 24/7 and so they already have the assignment to be out there, be visible, talk with people, answer complaints and be available for the public,” she said. “Because of things that have been going on in the community, we’re just going to step up our game and make sure there’s more visibility of the Clarksdale Police Department.”
Williams said the police department has already stepped up its game by taking numerous drugs and guns off the streets. She noted cocaine and marijuana are two of the more common drugs. She said officers would be going into schools, educating students and teachers have already reached out.
The sheriff’s office and Clarksdale police department are both thinking outside the box in their effort to lower the crime.
The sheriff’s office has had a K9 dog on the force for close to seven years.
Horace Whitehead, the office’s corporal K9 handler, said the current dog’s name is Tom and has been on the force for about a year.
“He’s able to detect illegal narcotics – marijuana, cocaine, meth,” Whitehead said. “He’s also a patrol dog for criminal apprehension. He’s a biter and a narcotic dog.”
There may be some new methods the K9 dog will use to catch criminals, but Whitehead could not reveal them at this time.
“The sheriff kind of keeps that under wraps until he comes up with,” he said. “We’ll just be ready when he comes up with it.”
The police department has officers who wear masks.
“It kind of sheds the identity of the officers when they do high-risk warrants,” Williams said.
Williams said it also deters individuals from committing crimes since the officer could be around anytime, even when the public is not aware of it.
