The city of Jackson will be the beneficiary of millions of dollars from the Department of Justice to boost its law enforcement.
U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) broke the news on MidDays with Gerard Gibert. The funding is part of the federal agency’s Model Cities Initiative and will go toward supporting public safety efforts, including hiring additional police officers and expanding preventive security measures.
Jackson joins Baton Rouge, La., Jacksonville, Fla., and St. Louis, Mo., in receiving the funding. The four cities will share a pot of around $300 million in federal dollars to help local law enforcement officials strengthen their communities.
“Our capital city is one of a few chosen for a real, real effort to turn around crime in Jackson,” Wicker said.
Jackson has been marred as one of America’s deadliest cities, though crime numbers have improved in recent years. In 2022, the city recorded 138 homicides after being named “America’s Deadliest Major City” in 2021 with 155 homicides, or 99.5 homicides per 100,000 residents. In 2020, the city began the triple-digit trend with 128 homicides.
2025 displayed a ray of hope for the capital city. Jackson’s murder toll plunged to double digits for the first time since 2019. Efforts to curb violent crime took a positive turn under the leadership of former Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade, along with extra support provided by the state-run Capitol Police Department.
With numbers easing, law enforcement officials continue to say there is room for growth. New JPD Chief RaShall Brackney has called for additional resources to help authorities identify and respond to potential public safety threats before they result in violence or preventable emergencies.
The federal funding is expected to be a game changer in allowing police to have a hand up on criminals in a city where crime has seemingly run rampant in the recent past, Brackney said.
“This is about more than a grant. It is about transforming the way we think about public safety and the way we serve the people of Jackson,” she explained. “Our vision is to build a system that is proactive, connected, intelligence-driven, and capable of identifying and addressing threats before they become emergencies. We want to move from simply responding to incidents to anticipating the needs of our community and positioning our officers and partners to act sooner.”
The Model Cities Initiative was created this past summer. According to DOJ officials, the program aims to select qualifying U.S. cities to implement comprehensive, “whole-of-city” strategies designed to reduce violent crime, restore law and order, and modernize public safety.
