Video: Mayor Says ‘Safe Summer’ Having Positive Impact Fighting Crime

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – One city in our area has experienced a rise in violent crime, and that led to more proactive measures by the police.

Not long after the fatal officer involved shooting of Ronnie Shumpert in June of 2016, Tupelo Police adopted a different approach, as tensions rose between police and some groups.

“You saw an immediate uptick in some criminal actions, some high profile criminal incidents, so we learned very quickly, that we have to be steadfast and continue efforts to combat crime in the city of Tupelo,” said Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton.

Part of that strategy involved an initiative called “Operation Safe Summer.”  It involves several components increased patrols in high crime areas,  and more of an emphasis on community policing.

Some are questioning how effect it is, given the safe Summer program is when Tupelo has already seen seven homicides this year.   Mayor Shelton says people are overlooking that in each case the victims were targeted.

“They’re universally either a domestic violence situation or some sort of personal feud between individuals that already know one another. It’s still something that’s bad and we’re going to fight all we can , but Tupelo is still a safe city,” Mayor Shelton said.

Checkpoints are also an element of Safe Summer Last month, TPD manned 37 safety checkpoints, resulting in more than 400 arrests,  31 DUIs, and 1,00 tickets issued.

The safety checkpoints have been criticized by some as a revenue generating took, but Mayor Shelton says a majority of money from traffic citations goes to the state, and there are other parts to the equation.

“You need to look at the fines of whatever offenses the city of Tupelo generates, somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars a year, collections for the city, but you have to look at budget of municipal court and Tupelo Police Department, combined is around 12 million dollars, so it’s not a situation where the city is making money on fine collections,” Shelton said.

Mayor Shelton points out that safety checkpoints are different than roadblocks, and no advance notice has to be made public.

Shelton says the rise in homicides has not had an impact on the number of visitors or tourists who visit Tupelo.