The E-T likes to stay ahead of the curve on local issues, but due to some short holiday deadlines, we were behind for the most unfortunate of reasons last week.
When we went to press last Monday on Christmas week, we reported on what had been five murders in Indianola during 2019. By the time the paper got into most people’s hands, that number had risen to six.
And the sixth was a 17-year-old child, who allegedly died at the hands of a 16-year-old.
Hours before the early Christmas Eve killing of Aquavius Hines, Indianola Police Chief Edrick Hall successfully lobbied the Board of Aldermen to agree to a pay raise for police officers.
Hall has been battling turnover all year at IPD, mostly due to the fact that his department has been unable to compete with neighboring salaries for officers.
This has resulted in a department that is about 40% staffed, according to Hall.
We were very pleased to see the board vote in favor of officer raises last week, which will hopefully incentivize more officers to stay long-term.
The solution to Indianola’s rise in violent crime does not lie in police pay raises alone.
A better-staffed department will allow officers to be more proactive, but it doesn’t address every issue facing the community.
Hall’s next approach at helping to curb gun violence is a community meeting, which will be held Thursday, Jan. 9 at the B.B. King Museum at 6:30 p.m.
All of Indianola’s citizens have a stake in this fight.
There is no one person or business that is not affected by the rise of violent crime, no matter where the crime occurs.
It is in everyone’s best interest to attend this meeting and subsequent meetings and marches addressing gun violence.
For the past two years, Indianola’s business community has stood behind Hall and his department, especially when they were faced with the prospect of losing him to another town in the summer of 2018.
Hall is now facing one of the toughest battles of his law enforcement career in attempting to reclaim peace on Indianola’s streets in 2020.
The entire city needs to get behind this effort, but it is especially important for anyone with ideas, influence or resources to show up and contribute something toward the solution.
Most of the lives that have been affected, both victims and perpetrators, have been young men under the age of 30.
Those were all lives and souls worth saving.
With a combined effort in 2020, this city can save lives.
If you feel helpless or if you don’t know what to contribute to the situation, come to next Thursday night’s meeting. You may find you have way more to offer than you could have ever imagined.
