State of Emergency Declared in Jackson, MS

State of Emergency Declared in Jackson, MS

The Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, Frank Melton has issued a state of emergency in Jackson, a city housing the last abortion mill in the state of Mississippi.  Here is a Scripture for the Mayor, "...There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land.  There is only cursing. lying, and murder, stealing, and adultery; they break all bounds and bloodshed follows bloodshed."  Hosea 4:1-2.

Mr.. Mayor, if you truly desire bloodshed to cease in the streets of Jackson, you must help bring to an end the shedding of innocent blood at the Jackson Women's Health Center on State Street.  "God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap."   If we sow bloodshed in the womb, we will reap bloodshed in the streets.  Peace will return to the streets of Jackson as soon as, and not until, we bring abortion to an end in Jackson! ~Flip

July 3, 2006

City state of emergency to continue

Melton says he'll lift proclamation when residents feel safe

By Kelli Esters
kesters@clarionledger.com

Mayor Frank Melton has decided to extend the state of emergency in Jackson for the second time, Cmdr. Tyrone Lewis said Sunday.

Melton has said the emergency proclamation is the most effective way to fight crime, which has increased since he took office a year ago.

The order, which originally was signed on June 22 for a five-day period, will be extended through Friday.

Under the proclamation, minors are subject to a 9 p.m. curfew on weeknights and 10 p.m. on weekends.

Melton said it will continue until people in the community let him know they are "safe and secure."

When asked when that will be, Lewis answered, "until he (the mayor) is comfortable that the community is comfortable. He will make that decision."

Melton, who was out of town on vacation, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Lewis said Melton is receiving feedback from beat officers who are talking to people in the community and observing activities and juveniles in the neighborhoods.

After midnight Friday, Jackson saw its second homicide during the state-of-emergency period in a quintuple shooting outside a west Jackson nightclub.

Uriel Castillo, 22, of Pearl was shot and killed outside the Taqueria Mexicana in the Bel Air Shopping Center at 1999 U.S. 80 West. Castillo was shot once in the chest and once in the arm, Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said Saturday.

Police would not release the names of the other four men, but described them as all being in their 20s. One was in serious condition with a wound to his back. The other three were released from local hospitals.

JPD Cmdr. Lee Vance said Sunday that police had no other details to release in the shooting, and no arrests have been made.

On June 23, Terry Thomas, 39, of Jackson was shot to death in west Jackson. No arrests have been made in that case.

Some in the Lanier High School area were questioning Sunday what it would take for the mayor, whose campaign was based on crime-fighting, to end the emergency period.

Helen West, 58, who sat on her porch Sunday on Rondo Street with Bobbie Ramsey, 38, said she didn't feel a difference in her neighborhood since the state of emergency began. Her neighborhood remained quiet.

Ramsey, whose eldest child is 14 years old, said she didn't have to worry about her children missing curfew, because they were at home.

"If you have a 14-year-old, you should know where they are at 10 p.m.," she said.

The curfew, though, makes other parents accountable for the whereabouts of their children, she said. "It gives parents more responsibility to know where their children are at that time of night," Ramsey said. "I feel safer that he's (Melton) doing that."

She said it's hard to tell if the curfew is really working in keeping crime down, because the amount of crime being committed is not known. "We won't know if it's making a difference until crime has gone down," Ramsey said.

City officials have said that the number of minors arrested for curfew violations during the emergency period will not be made public until the state of emergency ends.

Geneva Tillman, 72, who was doing yardwork on Campbell Street, said she used to sit out on her porch, but is afraid to because of the crime she hears about in the area.

Although her street is "pretty quiet," she said it doesn't seem like crime is being reduced in the city because of the curfew. "You can't tell," she said. "There are things going on every night." But, Tillman said, the curfew has only been in effect for 10 days, and it's too early to tell if it's working. "We have to give it time," she said.