COMMUNITY CONCERNS ABOUT CRIME- MAYOR SCOTT CONGER RESPONDS

JACKSON, Tenn.- The people of Jackson began to seriously worry about their public safety after a man was charged with first degree murder for stabbing a Walmart employee. Some members of the community even took to social media to question city officials about their plans to combat crime. 39 News was able to speak to mayor Scott Conger about his plans to combat crime.

“You look at the overall past four years, there's a downward trend in every crime category we have in Jackson. and so, you know, our police officers do a fantastic job. we have the best police department in the state. and so, you look at nearly every crime committed, especially in those higher profile crimes, arrests have been made and they have been they've been charged with crime.”

Mayor Conger points out that the local law enforcement is becoming better equipped to handle crimes on a day-to-day basis.

“We have multiple trainings from crisis intervention training to de-escalation training. you know, I think the best way we can equip our officers is by training them and make sure that they are prepared for situations that may arise.”

The mayor explains that there is no one way to handle crime.

“We're going to take steps and continue to take steps to ensure that that's a multifaceted approach. that's not just making sure our police department has more patrol cars, which we're doing, but it's also looking at how we empower people financially, how to provide mental health services, expand those if we can.

The mayor emphasizes the entire community plays a role in fighting crime.

"Theres a lot of issues that we have to deal with with, other organizations, how we're getting people gainfully employed, school system.there's a lot of factors that go into crime.”

Last year, Jackson was ranked the 12th most dangerous city in Tennessee. Dyersburg being number one. 39 News reached out to the Jackson Police Department about the total number of violent crimes this year but they were not available to comment at the time.