Jackson Jambalaya

Isn't this because the police are now up against those who can steal or easily buy better arms than they have?

Either you have to make it harder for criminals,terrorists and the mentally ill to accumulate arsenals or else you have to make sure law enforcement is better armed.

I now have left businesses three times where someone is openly carrying as I can't know if they have a loose screw or not. I can't call police and can't know if someone else is carrying who will be quicker on the draw. I'm older and know I'm not that quick.

Seems to me it worked better when boys couldn't take their guns to town and police could stop those who did!

Under no circumstances should JPD be issued assault rifles. They will immediately be sold to Jackson Democrats.

6:23....shove it up your @$$

6:23 YOU PROBABLY HAVE 6 RIGHT FEET!!!!!!!!!!

6:23, you've managed to be exactly wrong about this.

Accumulating an "arsenal" legally or illegally has never been a problem. Weapons will be purchased, stolen, or built if someone wants them.

The real problem is the militarization of police -- the transformation from a peace officer into an urban warrior hero soldier. We've let police departments dupe us into believing that they need enough firepower and armored vehicles to successfully invade most 3rd world countries, and we've believed the lie that policing is so dangerous that they are justified in treating private citizens as guilty until proven innocent.

6:23 hit the nail on the head. Also, every jurisdiction in the metro area does not need a swat team.

If the Chief wants gun control, he should be the first to give up his.

"I now have left businesses three times where someone is openly carrying"...

And the reason you left is because YOU, not them, have a problem. Me, I only leave businesses who have "no guns" signs posted.

8:56 - tell that to the 124 families who lost an officer in 2015; with 5 in Mississippi alone. Of those nationwide deaths in 2015; 27 were accounted to the following categories:
Ambush - 6
Traffic Stop - 7
Disturbance - 5
Suspicious Persons - 5
While Attempting Arrest - 4

Tell me again how being a cop in not dangerous...

9:28 -- Sure, I'll be happy to provide some context for your numbers.

Of those 129 (corrected) police deaths in 2015, 50 of them were either traffic accidents or heart attacks. Unless you're arguing that every officer should be issued his own armored vehicle, I'm not sure military equipment will prevent those.

[Source: https://www.odmp.org/search/year/2015 ]

Additionally, police on-duty deaths have been declining since 1975 or so. Incidentally, when you look at the numbers over the last century, the high points for police deaths are during prohibition and the beginning of the war on drugs. The lesson there is clear to me, but I suppose some might believe that it means we should equip cops with more equipment for a domestic war.

[Source: https://www.aei.org/publication/is-there-really-a-war-on-cops-the-data-show-that-2015-will-likely-be-one-of-the-safest-years-in-history-for-police/ and
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/04/police-deaths-2015-law-enforcement-safety ]

But really, the context we need is how dangerous being a policeman is compared to other jobs. And what we find is that it's not even in the top 10. Working as a roofer is more than three times as deadly as being a policeman. Truck drivers and farmers face jobs nearly twice as deadly as policework. Are there risks? Sure. Should those risks be exaggerated in an attempt to justify the violent and unjust way the police treat private citizens? No.

[Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/05/the_myth_of_the_hero_cop_police_unions_have_spread_a_dangerous_message_about.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/blake-fleetwood/how-dangerous-is-police-w_b_6373798.html ]

So, 9:28, how did the other 97 officers die? Car wreck? Is that why they need the armored vehicles?
I would have to say that if 27 officers died from gunshot, in a country with 350,000,000+ people, the odds are better of being struck by lightning.
I appreciate what the police do, just don't like the militarization of police forces. We don't need a standing military force overseeing us.

I'm all for a heavily armed police force, that follows the constitution. However, the criminals employed by JPD should not be heavily armed. Unless they can guarantee that the guns they sell to the street thugs will stay in Jackson. If that's the case, then I don't care what kind of firepower the JPD thugs have.

If Vance is such a big gun control advocate why doesn't he do something about all of the criminals in Jackson who carry guns, commit crimes with guns, convicted criminals who are caught carrying guns?
It isn't the honest citizen who has to own a gun for protection against criminals that is causing the problems. It is the criminals. How hard is that to understand? Do you think criminals are going to abide by the gun laws we already have when they are out breaking other laws?

Just looking at the Jackson cops who have been caught breaking the laws, the entire police dept. should forfeit their guns. The % of cops who are caught breaking the law is greater than the citizens breaking the law. Of course Jackson is different than other cities. The majority of the people there, including cops, are criminals.

I guess some of you clowns never heard of the phrase "gun control" being used jokingly to describe how well someone shoots, in this case, the Chief with an M4.

Like a tree at the end of a runway.....

Looks like he's controlling it pretty well.

He isn't controlling it at all. It is controlling him. It would be interesting to see the target and how accurate he was. From the way the barrel was wavering it must have been a moving target.

Maybe Lee could practice gun control by launching a pre-emptive strike on ward 3 in Jacktown.

KF: They've heard of it but they're too mad online.

These comments got way off topic but I can't resist. To the comment concerning how may roofers and truck drivers are tragically killed while performing their jobs how many were shot while sitting in the truck stop or walking the ridge line of a new house. The truckers and roofers were fatally injured in tragic accidents. Now I do not say that police officers do not die from accidents but if a armored vehicle saves one hostage or one officer it is worth it. Don't get your feelings hurt when a swat team has a cooler ride than your Toyota

8:27 and 8:49 am
Would either of you care to explain why most every Chief of Police and Law Enforcement Agency in the Nation supports better gun control laws?

8:56 am
Would you care to explain why police departments feel to need to become more militarized? Do you really think there's no justification?

It seems to me that all of you simply read only that which reinforces what you want to believe!

And, 9:14 am I'm relieved that you won't be entering an establishment with a no gun sign! I feel safer already! Were you the skin head with the Nazi tats ,tacky tee shirt , ugly Bermuda shorts and white socks in the eating establishment who smelled bad as well? Or were you the overly starched guy with the top button of your shirt buttoned on a hot day who was stiff as a board and nervous as a cat? Or you might have been the guy in uniform from the army/navy store who can't have ever been military because your posture was so bad? When I see someone openly packing who has a pleasant,relaxed demeanor and doesn't look like a crazy weirdo, I might change my mind. But, the responsible gun owners I know aren't openly carrying in broad daylight at retail stores and restaurants! They know if someone came in locked and loaded they'd be the first ones down! Idiot!

2:01 --

Now I do not say that police officers do not die from accidents but if a armored vehicle saves one hostage or one officer it is worth it.

Thanks for identifying yourself as being incapable of weighing costs and benefits. Hope you aren't in charge of anything important.

6:09 pm Did you run the cost/ benefit analysis for Ford Motor Company on the O rings for the Pinto? Are you working for Takata now?
If so, those values you put on a human life didn't work out so well, did they?
Did you do the math for an officer's or hostage's lifetime earnings and not consider the long term economic impact on the family or community ? Did you figure the economic probabilities of the future salary of the officers children vs what they'd have been with a two income intact family? Did you figure in the value of how many lives the officer made have saved during his career or influenced to a more valuable course in life? Did you imagine a wealthy hostage like an Eli Manning?
Putting a number value on a human life is a bit tricky!
You must have gotten your MBA after it became a 1 year degree or did you do the short route for executives that universities instituted to get money out of you guys hoping you'll be proud alum contributors?
You can't have taken a business ethics course or else you'd know an organization doesn't exist in a socio-economic vacuum! Try to develop the right side of your brain!

6:59 --

Nope, I've just recognized that when someone makes a "if it saves one life" claim, it means they are incapable of constructing a cogent argument. If you actually believed your own argument, then you are giving police departments carte blanche for equipment, weapons, staffing, and policies if it saves just one more life. Is that your position? Cost (both monetary and social) are irrelevant, so long as one more life is saved?

Thanks for the visual image of Eli Manning being kidnapped and police rescuing him in an armored vehicle. That's quite an imagination you have.