At a town hall, residents oppose the upcoming expansion of the Capitol Police jurisdiction

With the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police set to expand July 1, Jacksonians attending a town hall hosted by Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes Thursday night at the Medgar Evers Library were downright opposed to the expansion.

Come July 1, the Capitol Police, a unit of the state-run Mississippi Department of Public Safety, will have jurisdiction as far north as Northside Drive and as far south as Raymond Road.

While the Capitol Police's jurisdiction will expand, it still leaves out certain areas of each ward, but mostly Wards 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which house a large portion of the city's Black population.

Capitol Police will be working in tandem with the Jackson Police Department, but will only be enforcing state laws. JPD enforce both state laws and city ordinances. Capitol Police will also be starting a dispatch service, taking residents calls, as part of the expansion.

The expansion is part of the Capitol Complex Improvement District, which was signed into law last year as part of House Bill 1020. The bill is currently facing various lawsuits from opponents.

Along with creating the Capitol Complex Improvement District and expanding the jurisdiction of the Capitol Police, the bill creates a new unelected court system and adds temporary appointed judges to the Hinds County court system.

Those in favor of the bill say the measures are an effort to decrease crime in Jackson.

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Ward 3 town hall

At Stokes' town hall, residents, all but a few were Black, expressed fear of the Capitol Police, who they characterized as aggressive, violent and unfamiliar with residents. All in attendance said they prefer and are more comfortable with JPD patrolling the area.

There was also concern that Capitol Police do not wear body-cams, though that was changed in an amended version of HB 1020 that requires the addition of cameras.

Stokes hosted the town hall, along with Earl Banks, who represents parts of Ward 3 in the Mississippi House of Representatives and Jackson's Chief of Police Joseph Wade.

Banks told the crowd he did not vote for HB 1020, as did all of the Hinds County, Jackson and Democratic lawmakers in the Mississippi House. But those votes didn't matter as Republicans, who wrote and support the bill, have a super-majority.

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Stokes criticized the Capitol Police for not making more of an effort to connect with Jacksonians. He also said he has talked with some residents who are in favor of the expanding jurisdiction, but have doubts because they aren't familiar with the Capitol Police like they are JPD.

"They (Capitol Police) need to come and meet and talk to people, give them that comfort zone," Stokes told the Clarion Ledger after the meeting. "If this was a white ward and they called a meeting, they (Capitol Police) would be there. So why you can't come to Kenneth Stokes' ward?"

Stokes said he invited officials in the Capitol Police, but none showed. Likewise, Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grizzell, who is Black, hosted a town hall on Tuesday night to discuss crime in Jackson. The press release stated officers in the Capitol Police would be speaking, but none were in attendance.

"They'd (Capitol Police) do a better a job when they come to the people," Stokes said. "Ain't nobody trying to do nothing to them, all we're trying to do is get everybody on the same page. The enemy is the criminals."

One resident in attendance who garnered much support after Stokes invited him to speak was Tariq Abdul-Tawwab, director of the health center with the People's Advocacy Institute. The institute "is a non-profit community resource, training and capacity-building incubator for transformation justice in the South," according to its website. It is lead by Rukia Lumumba, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's older sister.

Abdul-Tawwab was also briefly the Chief Experience Officer for JXN Water, the company currently in-control of the city's water and sewer systems. Last year, Abdul-Tawwab was fired by the leader of JXN Water, Ted Henifin, the city's third-party water administrator.

In an impassioned speech, Abdul-Tawwab, who lives in Ward 1, compared the Capitol Police and the Capitol Complex Improvement District to Jim Crow-era laws, saying it is only helping to kill and arrest young Black men. He also compared the Capitol Complex Improvement District to other attempts from the state to "takeover" Jackson, such as Senate Bill 2628, which would put the City of Jackson's water and sewer infrastructure into the hands of the state after Henifin steps down. Senators in the Mississippi Senate recently approved SB 2628 in early March.

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Abdul-Tawwab also stated there was no data that shows Capitol Police have improved safety in Jackson, as well as arguing the money that has gone into funding the state-police force could've been better spent in other areas.

"They've shot a lot of people, they've done a lot of road blocks and the violence in our city has not gone down at all," Abdul-Tawwab said. "You and I would both have to agree with the history of Mississippi that appears that they give money to ensure that the Black population does not rise."

Similar to complaints Stokes had, Abdul-Tawwab said Capitol Police officers have never tried to talk with anyone from the People's Advocacy Institute.

"The bigger question is what is the goal of the Capitol Police?" Abdul-Tawwab said. "You're showing us your goal is to lock up a lot of people and to instill fear ... I think the expansion is a mistake, I think the expansion is another attempt to takeover Jackson and to remove the residents of Jackson that they find unqualified to live in the capital city."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Residents oppose expansion of Capitol Police jurisdiction in Jackson MS