Community leaders say real-time command center isn’t a cure for Jackson’s violent crime

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - John Knight says he was let down by the launch of the Jackson Police Department’s real-time command center.

”The command center, what it’s going to do is going to catch crime as it happens. So it’s not going to stop anything,” he said.

Knight is a member of a Strong Arms of JXN, a group of violence interrupters. He said the virtual policing system does little for their mission.

“My job is to try to come in and stop it before it turns to a murder in the family. We’re not crime fighters, we try to stop it before it happens,” said Knight. “[The command center] is not going to stop any murders. No cameras, nowhere in the world, save lives.”

Knight said he would have liked to see the money used for the center go towards other community needs. He grew up here and was once caught up in some trouble too.

With Strong Arms of Jxn and others, Knight wants to help the youth make the changes necessary to stop the violence.

“What is the root of all this violence in our city. Is it drugs? Is it poverty? Is it lack of education? Is it mental health issues? Yes, it’s all of that, but we don’t want to talk about those things. We want to look for the easy way out,” said Knight.

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