A collaborative effort between multiple law enforcement agencies in Jackson is moving into its next phase as officials say they’re beginning to arrest those perpetrating violent crime and drug trafficking.
Operation Unified was announced in January, and officials now say they’re working with federal partners to address the city’s gang violence.
Michael McEwen
Jackson
Governor Tate Reeves announced the collaborative effort in Northeast Jackson in February, flanked by representatives of a number of law enforcement agencies.
He was also joined by Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who has traditionally been at odds with the Governor for years over state-led efforts to increase its authority in the capital city.
But at the time the operation was announced, both Reeves and Lumumba said their joint appearance was indicative of how badly Jackson needs a collaborative solution to address crime – and that it could mark a new approach for law enforcement in the state.
Now nearly two months later, officials say they’ve already made some progress in their efforts.
Since the beginning of the operation, more than 600 arrests have been made, seizing over 200 firearms, more than 500 pounds of illicit drugs – mostly Fentanyl in various forms – and seized over $30,000.
They’ve now moved into Operation Unified’s second phase: issuing arrest warrants and pursuing charges against those higher-up in the organizations responsible.
“We see bags of pills that are believed to be fentanyl or ecstasy, pills that are being sold on our streets, killing our kids and destroying our neighborhoods,” said Sean Tindell, Public Safety Commissioner since his 2020 appointment.
”We also see handguns with switches. These are what make pistols perform at an automatic rate, much like an automatic rifle would, dispensing multiple rounds.”
According to Tindell, officers during one raid in West Jackson discovered more than a dozen long guns capable of firing at automatic rates amid two gangs positioning to go to war.
35 arrests have been made during the second phase so far, and roughly 40 more warrants have been issued.
As it unfolds, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens says he intends to commit a special grand jury for crimes being prosecuted by Operation Unified to ensure their work is finished.
“The project will only be complete if the District Attorney's office prosecutes individuals quickly and reliably. We have to make sure those individuals who terrorize our communities would not be allowed to be repeat offenders,” said Owens.
“We plan on producing the statistics showing the individual years and time that individuals receive from Project Unity [sic], because projects like this are the start -- not the finish -- of having a safer capital city.”
At that February announcement, officials said Operation Unified was modeled after similar multi-agency ‘surges’ in Montgomery County and along the Mississippi Coast in previous years.
It concentrates both officers and resources from the Jackson Police Department, State Capitol Police, Mississippi Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Narcotics on the state level, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ATF, Homeland Security and United States Attorney's Office at the federal level.
The collaboration, according to Tindell, has allowed agencies like JPD to re-hone certain functions within the Department like intelligence or action units that work within communities.
With that, those units have been free to learn of new developments within and around the city, such as where drugs are arriving from and the nature of evolving gang violence.
Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade, appointed in August of 2023, says both inform Jackson’s high rates of gun crimes..
“It’s not traditional as it was back in the 90’s – we have so many neighborhood factions and pockets of individuals who are gang affiliated,” said Wade. “We have one that has been wreaking havoc across the city. I would not call it a gang war, but these individuals are gang affiliated and we're taking a very strategic approach to deal with that.”
Wade is referring to the multiple so-called ‘hybrid gangs’ that have originated across Jackson and the United States in recent years – a phenomenon where rather than forming by a geographic or ethnic identity, they instead form regardless and often in spite of those factors.
The reasons are often expressly in pursuit of financial or other power-gains in an area, a process made easier by combining forces and resources into one cohesive approach.
But, according to a 2001 Department of Justice brief, the formation of hybrid gangs can also blur the lines of traditionally imposed codes of conduct and affiliation, leading to further violence through increased competition between fluid criminal enterprises.
In Jackson, the victims of that are, more often than not, young men.
“We've had talks with the U.S. Attorney Todd Gee and we're talking about bringing in some efforts from the national level to address our gang issue here in the city of Jackson,” said Wade, who has also offered to meet with various gang leaders to try and stop gun violence, if only temporarily.
“When I talk about meeting or speaking with these gang members, I'm not talking about calling a truce or giving them a pass. I'm talking about a ceasefire. I'm talking about saving lives because we're losing too many young men in our city to senseless gun violence,”he said.
According to a source familiar with the matter, law enforcement officials intend to meet with consultants who have brokered lasting reductions in gang-related gun violence as far away as Boston to see what can be done in Jackson.
That same source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also said officials are working to establish a federal gang task force in Jackson and possibly pursue federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization charges – better known as RICO – against a number of gangs or other criminal organizations who are active in the city.