Jackson Jambalaya

WLBT reported:
"Surveillance cameras captured a man falling off of a bicycle at 4:15 A.M. at the entrance to Woodland Hills at Old Canton Road and Glenway Drive. The man picked up dropped materials, put them in a bag, and started to ride away. About that time a Jackson police car came by. The man waved at the officer and went on his way. The officer did not stop....
Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance looked at the video and said he couldn't tell if the officer actually saw the man on the bicycle. Vance said Commander Kenneth Goodrum, of Precinct Four, where Woodland Hills is located, consistently has the lowest crime rate in the city. Vance says crime is down over 10% in the past year, and violent crime in that area is down over 23%, so he trusts Goodrum and his officers.
Vance told WLBT that an officer cannot just stop a black man for riding a bicycle in a white neighborhood because that is profiling." Story

This is simply ridiculous and yet another example of the incompetence at JPD. Vance as usual is covering for his officers and defending a cop's dereliction of duty. Keep in mind Vance opposed releasing police reports to the public because he said he didn't want his officers getting sued, his duty to the public be damned.

JJ has learned two houses in the area were hit that night and two things were stolen: a purse out of an unlocked car and a woman's bicycle. Hmmm.... what was the suspect in possession of when the police car drove by? A woman's bicycle and a purse.

Unfortunately for Fondren residents, Vance is more interested in protecting his officer than he is protecting the public. His excuse that JPD does not profile is just that, an excuse as JPD profiles all the time. If you are white and in a certain part of town at a certain time, you will get stopped by JPD as they assume you are in that area to buy drugs (and they are probably right). No one wants JPD to stop and question black people in white neighborhoods or vice versa. What IS expected of JPD is for police officers to stop and investigate suspicious activity, regardless of color.

If nothing else, someone weaving all over the place while riding a bike at 4:00 AM is enough to give an officer probable cause to see if he is guilty of public intoxication. Then he can question him about the items in his possession. That is not profiling, that is police work and in just about any other jurisdiction, that is exactly what would have happened. Lee Vance's defense of his police officer was pitiful and a kick in the stomach to the victims whose purse and bike were stolen by that thief. Lee Vance owes us an apology.