City Officials, Educators, Faith Leaders and Law Enforcement are fighting gun violence with I-CARE

7-19-22

JACKSON, TENN (WNBJ)-

Jackson city officials, educators, faith leaders and law enforcement are all teaming up to fight the growing problem of violent crime in Jackson.

“We was having so many crime. You know, murders were going across our city. And I just felt like it was not any conversation. And I approached them. I approached everybody to somebody to have to start the conversation so we can start discussing what can we do? Are we going to stop it? No. Can we get control of it and reduce crime? Yes, we can," said District 2 City Councilmen Johnny Dodd.

Councilman Dodd is hoping Jackson can reduce violence in the city by adopting a program called "I-CARE". The acronym stands for Initiative - Community- Advocacy - Resilence - Empowerment.

Memphis has already successfully used the program. Now Jackson will use I-CARE to educate the community.

Dodd said, "It’s been a long time coming, a little delayed but not too late. Because of love, hope and perseverance that the people have in Jackson, Tennessee, each of us stand here to say 'I care.'”

The message behind I-CARE is, everyone has to get involved to stop violent crime in our community.

“We all may be different, slightly different shades, but we're all family, you know, we all live together. This is our community, it's our home, and we're going to do something about it," said US Marshall Tyreece Miller.

“It's not government driven. We don't have all the answers. We can't provide all the answers. We don't have all the ideas… every life in Jackson is precious. One life lost is one too many. But the way we respond to these tragedies is what defines us as a city," said Jackson Mayor Scott Conger.

“violent crime. And the solution is not a police issue or a prosecutor issue. It's a community issue. And we need everybody involved,” Josephy C. Murphys Jr the US attorney for the Western District of Tennessee said.

The Jackson Police Department is already using a campaign called "Blue Impact" to crack down on gun violence.

In about 6 weeks the police got nearly 50 illegal guns off the streets and made over 300 gun related arrests.

But police Chief Tom Corley believes solving the violence problem is going to take more than arrests, “We can't arrest our way out of this particular issue. It's a community issue, as the mayor said. And, you know, we have to have those partnerships. Collaboration and community involvement is something that I preach at the Jackson Police Department. And this is part of that. And I so welcome this. And I really appreciate and encourage everyone to be a part of."

An I-CARE summit involving both adults and children will be held in Jackson next month:.

Adults will attend four different worships: Gang Talk, How to have a great school year, Peace in the home and Mental Health Awareness.

Children will be taught how to deal with the trauma of violence.

The I-CARE summit is set for Saturday august 6th, from 10-2 at Lane College.