Jackson Jambalaya

Wasn't Frank Figgers an election commissioner? If this is the same guy, heaven please help us all now!

Commander McGowan would have made a better Chief but, he was sent packing for whatever reason.

None of this makes a fig's worth of difference other than as it relates to PERS math.

Madison, the safest city in the state, has had the same chief for 27 years. Let's have a contest: How many chiefs of police has Jackson had in the past 27 years? I may be way off, but I'm going with 13. Next?

Mr Frank Figgers is an excellent choice. He is knowledgeable and thoughtful
in his deliberation and extremely courteous in his public discourse.

@5:13, You do realize that Madison only has approximately 27,000 people in the whole city, don't you? And the majority of those are employed elsewhere? During the daytime hours, people from Madison are working in downtown Jackson. Madison is more of a community than a city, and lots of places that size has very little crime. Madison is basically the outskirts of Jackson, so it's no safer than Jackson.

Madison has also had the same mayor since the 80s. Big difference.

5:50....Screw 'courteous in his public discourse'. We need somebody to reverse the crime trend and return this city to a place of safety.

Barney Fife was "thoughtful in his deliberation" and "courteous in his public discourse". Sheesh!

5:13 Why always compare Madison to Jackson? Bring the chief of Madison to Jackson and see can he make Jackson the safest city in the state. HE WOULDN'T LAST ONE DAY.Or let's introduce some of the elements that's causing the problems in Jackson move to Madison, STILL he wouldnt last one day because they will run him out of Madison. Stop comparing people who was born with silver spoons in their mouths to people that where born flat broke

5:13, Counting interim chiefs the answer would be 18 in 30 years.

I hope he does a good job and makes our city a better place.

Jackson has not been known for continuity in the last 30 years. If the figure of 18 Chiefs of Jackson Police Department is correct and we have had 8 different mayors in that time, then these two stats alone account for much of what is wrong here. Add to that a District Attorney that people keep re-electing and some judges who refuse to hear cases very often and anyone can see the basis of Jackson's demise.

"Madison is basically the outskirts of Jackson, so it's no safer than Jackson. "

Yeah, right. Why don't you look up the number of homicides within the city limits of Madison and Jackson each year for the past - hell, pick a number - of years and get back to us with the comparison.

"No safer" my .

Madison is basically the outskirts of Jackson, so it's no safer than Jackson.

YOU ARE WHY Jackson is screwed up. Congrats.

@6:32 You just solidified 5:13's question with your last sentence.
So how many Chief's do you think Jackson has had in the past 27 years?

3:32, no, that was the other Frank Figgers.

@6:32
Seriously? If you truly believe the bs that you typed, then there is no hope.
The majority of us who used to work in downtown Jackson no longer do so. No one breaks into our cars, we don't have to walk our staff to their vehicles, and we no longer have to deal with homeless people spraying bodily fluids in our general direction. The office rent is more expensive, but Madison ain't that bad.

The traffic flowing from the burbs to downtown has waned. Unless there is a wreck at the waterworks or stack, it is rare that one has to wait in traffic on the interstate. If I go downtown around 8 AM and get off at Pearl Street, I only have to wait at one light cycle at North State Street. Didn't used to be the case. Eastgroup moved to Ridgeland - only five employees were left who lived in Jackson. Cspire, BS, Cspire, and Horhn moved out. What do you think happened to that traffic? The downtown restaurants save for Mayflower and a couple of others don't see the business they used to see. Sad but true.

Yes Frank Figers was an election commissioner, and a very nice courteous individual. And he could not count to five, figuratively. Biggest joke was,watching him and another commissioner trying to 'tally cotes' one day with fifty or so people watching. He literally couldn't keep up as they read off the votes. God bless us if he is to be in place over JPS - although in so many ways it seems totally in line.

Not much to choose from from Ward 3, but certainly there is somebody in Kenneth ward that can count the fingers on their hand.

So...to recap: Madison is just like Jackson, only smaller. Or something like that. Bull shit.

Madison's chief has never been the target of sexual harassment charges. He's never been accused of hiding out from the media. He's never been the subject of an expose of going hunting for office furniture in Arkansas with a female subordinate. He's never been fired. He's never quit in disgust. He's never failed to rally the troops. His department has never been the subject of ongoing, negative social media posts from his own employees. He's never bitched and moaned about surrounding jurisdictions. He's never understaffed his department. He's never paraded around with stars on his shoulder-boards. He's never been an interim anything. He's not an import from out of state. He didn't come from a college campus. He wasn't a token female. He wasn't selected because he sucked up to a mayoral candidate or incumbent. He's never had insurrection or discontent among the troops.

You people who think Madison is simply a rural, sleepy extension of Jackson are nuts. You people who think law enforcement in Madison, Clinton, Flowood and Brandon consists of rattling door knobs downtown at night and rescuing cats in trees are welcome to your delusions. But, you're still nuts.

Celebrate your national crime-standing in Jackson. Welcome your 19th chief in 30 years (and calculate that turnover rate). And wallow in your delusions of perceptions of crime and your false sense of safety. Just stay the hell out of surrounding communities where people are serious about safety and quality of life.

To the person who says during the day there is no traffic and people in the burbs, try driving here during working hours. With development, you have an influx of people(ie, construction workers, builders). Even during working hours, in Jackson, you can get around pretty easily. Most people walk or eat at their desk. There are a ton of people coming and going in the burbs.

Why do people who live in in Madison feel a need to lecture people who live in Jackson?

8:49
You've got that exactly ass-backwards.
Why do the people in Jackson feel the need to not only lecture people in Madison, but, to also blame them for all of Jackson's problems?

Why do people who live in Jackson refuse to fix Jackson?

10:12. Jackson got to be in the condition it is now because the people living there prefer it to be that way. Just look at all the trouble they have gone to just to elect the clown in office.
If the people in Jackson didn't like it the way it is they would change it.

Why do people in Jackson refuse to recognize reality and instead come up with comments like, "Don't be lecturin' me Bro!" That's the same thing their third grader says to his teacher.

1:46, only an idiot would generalize about “the people living” in Jackson.

10:12am Why do the people who live in MS refuse to fix MS? We’re all on the Titanic and you acting better thou because you’re on the stern. Get out of here. You know the whole entire US is doing better than us in everything right? Come off it.

8:32 is a fine example of the crowd who actually believes everybody (on the boat) ought to sacrifice their children, their gold and their silver, their dreams and their hopes....just to pitch in and save Jackson.

Mississippi is not the Titanic. Mississippi is composed of lots of vessels...from yachts to 14 foot jon boats to sparkly rigs with 300 hp motors to patched up buckets with trolling motors.

Some sink. Some survive. Jackson just happens to be one of several that got herself off into the backwater canal with broken paddles and untrained mates and got herself sucked into an abyss of sewage. There's nobody in the wheelhouse who has read a captain's manual and all on deck are OK with that.

@10:12 AMEN! Yes, let’s fix Mississippi. When I moved here from out-of-state a few years ago, people were in shock and disbelief-as if I were moving to a third world country. All the banter here only causes descension...the downward spiral of Mississippi. Put your hatchets down, you are only cutting yourselves off at the knees.