Thanks to Northsider Randy Howard, I had lunch with Hinds County Sheriff Tyree Jones at Bravo.
Randy is full of energy and, although retirement age, serves as vice chairman of BankPlus. Earlier in his career he built up several Louisiana banks into powerful banking entities. Glad to have him in my contacts list.
This was the first time I have met with the new sheriff, who first took office in November 2021 after a special election to replace sheriff Lee Vance who succumbed to covid. Vance was a mentor to Jones and laid the groundwork for Jones’ ascension to the sheriff’s slot by introducing him to movers and shakers.
Vance showed good judgement in this respect. Jones is a worthy successor. I was tremendously impressed. Hinds County would do well by electing him to his first full term in office this November. The Democratic primary is August 8.
Marshand Crisler has also qualified as a Democrat. Crisler is a political veteran but lacks the depth and breadth of law enforcement experience that Jones has. Jones squared off in the 2021 special election with Crisler getting 31 percent compared to Jones’ 24 percent in the first votes, but Jones then beat Crisler in the runoff with over 60 percent.
Jones has over 22 years experience as a Jackson Police Department homicide investigator. That’s some real experience. Our lunch lasted over an hour and we covered dozens of subjects. I was very impressed with his knowledge and experience. He’s a family man and a life-long church goer. He resides on the Northside near Pear Orchard Road.
It’s a big job, managing 80 deputies and staffers in operations and 170 detention guards and staffers. He claims things are much improved at the county jail, which is currently not under federal control. Judge Carlton Reeves’ December 2022 order to keep the jail under federal control was overturned by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in January. That situation remains fluid.
“We are in possession of our jails, right now, for the first time in over 10 years,” Jones told me. “Deaths are going down. In 2021 there were seven or eight deaths in our jail from suicides, homicides and drug overdoses. Since October 2021, a month before my election, we went the whole year with no deaths in that jail.
“We accomplished that by making administrative changes. Put some new policies and procedures in place. Gave our detention officers a raise to attract more personnel.
“Our biggest accomplishment is the pay raise we got for the deputies. They went from a starting salary of $29,400 to $40,000. We’ve also been able to equip all our deputies with body cameras. I’m a firm believer in transparency. I was also able to get a million dollars in ARPA money for updating our vehicles.” Jones has also set up an intern program with Jackson State to help recruit fresh blood.
Jones says he still has a long way to go. Ideally, he needs 225 to 250 personnel in detention. He currently has 180. Plus the design of the new county jail needs a lot of work. It will be located near Jackson, at the youth detention center’s current site. The old county jail, now 20 years old, is in Raymond, which creates a lot of wasted time transporting detainees to and from the county courthouse.
Construction should start this spring. First step is a water tower to service the new facility. The county also has a detention facility where women and lower-risk men are held.
“When it comes to our youth, it’s about accountability, whether it’s accountability on corrections or accountability at home. We’ve got to hold these youths responsible for the crimes they commit. We’ve got to hold these youths responsible for some of the crimes they commit before they get to committing some of the violent crimes like murder, robbery or carjackings. People just don’t wake up and decide to commit a violent crime. It starts at home. If these youths are not at home, then the parents should know they’re involved with something that they shouldn’t be. The parents should know if they’re doing something illegal by their behavior, what they’re bringing in and out of the house, the company they’re keeping. As my father said, “If you lie, you’ll steal. If you steal you’ll kill.”
This perfectly reflects my view on the crime problem. If we punish the smaller crimes, it will prevent the bigger crimes. Letting a small-time youth offender off is hurting them. They need to learn the lesson sooner, not later. Better a 14 year old spend a month in youth detention for shoplifting, than spend the rest of their lives in Parchman for murder.
Which brings us to the hot topic of the day. The state legislature’s plan to create new courts in Jackson. This is much needed and I support it. It’s about time the state took an interest in its only major city, and the capital city, in our state.
The main problem with Jackson is the erosion of its tax base while leaving huge legacy infrastructure needs, including many churches and state buildings that don’t pay taxes. Jackson desperately needs the support of the state.
It is understandable that such support comes with strings attached. But the state’s insistence on having the new city judges appointed rather than elected is a horrible political and public relations move. It pushes hot buttons deeply related to our past. Jackson doesn’t need any more bad national publicity.
Even more problematic, if the state persists in insisting on appointed judges, the whole situation could find itself in federal courts on voting rights allegations.
There is a simple fix. Let’s just let the new judges be elected as usual.
