The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is taking the lead role in the investigation of a man who alleges a Columbia police officer pointed a gun at him during an interview.
Police Chief Michael Kelly said he turned over a “substantial amount of evidence” on Tuesday to two MBI agents. Kelly said police will also continue to do interviews about what happened.
Jessie Domenique Jefferson told WDAM in a story aired Monday that an officer sat his chair on top of Jefferson’s feet and bounced up and down on them and then pointed a gun at his head.
“’What makes you think I won’t kill you and say you reached for my gun?’ That’s when my heart dropped. I was like this dude is fixing to kill me,” Jefferson said in an interview with the Hattiesburg TV station.
Jefferson, who was 26 at the time, was charged with embezzlement and malicious mischief on Oct. 14.
Kelly said they first received word about the alleged incident during October based on talk in the community and a Facebook post. However, Jefferson did not speak to police then and still has not, Kelly said.
He said police opened an initial investigation that involved the knowledge of him, Mayor Justin McKenzie, City Attorney Lawrence Hahn and aldermen.
“We took the case as far as we could take it without having a victim come forward,” Kelly said.
When Jefferson spoke to the media, that brought up new evidence and the MBI was called in, Kelly said.
Kelly said the officer involved, who has not been named, remains on normal duties.
“We want the people to know the allegations that are being made will not be tolerated. It will be investigated. If disciplinary action is warranted, there will be disciplinary action,” he said.
Kelly also noted that all citizens are considered innocent until proven guilty and that police officers should be looked at through the same lens. He said they will be transparent with the results of their findings.
The chief said public trust is the most important thing to him, and police want people to trust them enough to come forward with information, whether good or bad. He said they hold events at people’s homes to invite that and at public places, like a breakfast Monday at Second Street Bean.
Whether the allegations are substantiated or not, Kelly said police have made improvements as a result.
First, they have doubled down on their efforts to get body cameras for officers, and Kelly said they should receive a grant to buy them on March 1.
Second, police have installed 18 cameras inside and outside of the police department since the incident and set up two interview rooms, where all interactions between police and suspects are recorded with both video and audio. Kelly said there were some cameras at the station when he took office but none were working, and they’ve now fixed the broken ones and installed new ones.
“We’ve built in some protections,” he said.
