Local leaders set out to combat rising crime rates in Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — A new program is hoping to combat crime rates in Jackson and make our community safer.

A program called ICARE has been combating increasing crime rates in Memphis. As the program is set in place in Jackson, they hope to see similar impacts to our community.

“What we’re here to do today is to announce the ICARE Community Summit and all these partners are here to support this effort,” said U.S. Attorney Joe Murphy.

Crime rates have been increasing in Jackson for some time, but they have been increasing even more over the past six to 12 months.

“Unfortunately we’ve seen an uptick in community violence over the past year, but specifically since the fall and into the new year,” said Matt Marshall, the President and CEO of United Way of West Tennessee.

The mission of ICARE is to reduce the cycle of violence in the community, and to create a safer environment for everyone who lives here. This is not an issue that started overnight, and it will not end overnight. But leaders say they are ready to make Jackson a better place.

“The mission of ICARE is to reduce the entire generational cycle of violence by providing and supporting a wide range of preventive and intervention services and programming throughout Jackson and Madison County,” said Rhonda Pettigrew, the Pastor of Destiny Church.

U.S. Marshall Tyreece Miller says this is not an individual issue, but a community issue.

“We all may be slightly different shades, but we’re all family. We all live together, this is our community, this is our home, and we’re going to do something about it,” Miller said.

Their next step to creating a safer environment begins on Aug. 6 with an ICARE community summit. It will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chamber McClure Academic Center at Lane College.

They will host four different workshops for the community, including understanding the impacts of counseling and a domestic violence workshop.

“We’ll be having four different workshops. Our first one is a group ‘901 block’ from Memphis, and we’ll be doing a gang workshop with them. Then we’ll have one based on education, to prepare kids for school,” said Councilman Johnny Dodd.

You can find reactions from the community about the announcement here.