WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: '100 Concerned Clergy' Promises Crime Prevention Efforts

'100 Concerned Clergy' Promises Crime Prevention Efforts

By: Cheryl Lasseter
cheryl@wlbt.net

The shooting and kidnapping of 11-year-old Amber Scott in Jackson may soon be the subject of the TV show "America's Most Wanted". The show's producers have contacted Police Chief Robert Moore.

"They just called as I was speaking here a minute ago," Chief Moore said during a news conference near Jackson City Hall.

Scott got away from her abductors and she's OK, but the crime has shaken up the community. So on Friday, flanked by city and county leaders, the group "100 Concerned Clergy of Jackson" promised to become more proactive.

"Enough is enough, we're just not gonna take it anymore," says Pastor Ronnie Crudup.

"We have little girls being kidnapped and shot, we have little boys being raped," notes City Council Member Marshand Crisler. "They've gotten way to comfortable committing crimes in the Jackson area."

The court system has long been criticized for striking too many plea bargains and not convicting enough offenders. The Hinds County court system has suffered from backlog problems, but District Attorney Faye Peterson says a lot of the problems that we think are linked to the court system are merely misunderstandings.

"Those are some misconceptions they have about the criminal justice system in Hinds County," Peterson says.

Peterson says a part-time, 5th circuit judge recently added to the system has helped a lot.

"We're moving the backlog tremendously on things that don't have to go to trial. And it leaves those other judges with the time to actually try cases," she says.

"100 Concerned Clergy" says in the next few months it will get some crime prevention activities in gear.