JPD hosts its first Community Roll Call

JACKSON, TN (WNBJ) - In Jackson, the police department is working to bridge the gap between themselves and community members.

The Jackson Police Department hosted their first community roll call yesterday at St. James Missionary Baptist Church. The department says the roll call is a part of their initiative focused on community-oriented policing.

The department is dedicated to community-oriented policing and they believe that the community roll calls are a way to build positive relationships between organizations and people in the community.

“Those relationships are very important because a lot of the issues that we deal with at the police department are issues we can’t solve a lot of times without community support. Everything is not a criminal issue and sometimes we have to rely on our pastors to get involved and our other partners in the community to help us with issues we address,” said Julian Wiser, the Chief of Police of the Jackson Police Department.

The roll calls are daily briefings usually done at the police department, but in an effort to show transparency and to create more opportunities for police and community interactions they will begin to have these roll calls in public places.

This roll call consisted of officers who were about to start their work shifts and the chief briefing them on cases or situations they may need to be aware of in the community.

The chief asked the media to not share the audio of this part of the roll call because some of the details shared are not public information.

The pastor of St. James Missionary Baptist Church was glad to be able to host the community roll call and create more avenues of outreach.

“Well, we have always been a community church and so we are excited about what we can give back to the community. We are excited about having a relationship with the police officers, especially during these times. What makes me excited is that you can have a relationship in these last evil days we are living in, so it is always a good thing to be able to give back,” said Ernest Polk, the Pastor of St. James Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastor Polk ended the roll call with a prayer of protection over the officers as they began their patrolling shifts.

The Jackson Police Department plans to have these community roll calls every month.