Rural Lowndes County has seen a steady downtick of violent crime and property crime in recent year, according to Sheriff Mike Arledge.
Statistics Lowndes County Sheriff’s Department provided The Dispatch show deputies worked one case that resulted in a murder charge in 2014, with three cases of rape/sexual assault, two arson cases and seven cases of statutory rape. The department worked 170 burglaries and seven robberies last year.
“We’ve been staying at or below the previous year’s totals on those type of felonies,” Arledge said. “Some of that comes from changes in the law that took things that used to be felonies (particularly property crimes and certain types of theft) down to the misdemeanor level.”
While the sheriff’s department’s work focuses mainly on areas in Lowndes County outside of Columbus, Arledge said its drug enforcement heavily includes arrests made inside the city.
In 2014, LCSD made 198 felony narcotics arrests, compared to only 71 such arrests by Columbus Police Department the same year. Arledge said his deputies arrested many of those suspects in Columbus.
Part of that, he said, stems from investigations leading deputies into the city. Another part, though, is resources. He said the sheriff’s department has six dedicated narcotics officers — including two who are also U.S. marshals — while CPD has one.
Columbus police
Columbus police may not be hauling in felony narcotics suspects at the rate the county does, but CPD surpassed the county department in several violent and property crime categories in 2014.
According to statistics CPD gave The Dispatch, Columbus police worked four homicides last year, as well as eight rape/sexual assaults and 16 aggravated assaults.
“Columbus is a little higher than the national average,” Police Chief Tony Carleton said of the city’s violent crime rate.
The department also worked 267 burglaries, 32 grand larcenies and 14 cases each of robbery and motor vehicle theft.
Carleton, who became Columbus police chief in summer 2014, has adopted a community-policing model he hopes will reduce crime and also better encourage citizens in assist law enforcement.
After a March shooting in broad daylight at Sim Scott Park that injured four people, Carleton unveiled a four-officer task force that would conduct foot patrols in high-crime areas in hopes of deterring crime and building a rapport with residents. CPD is also providing residents access to a direct cell phone number for those officers on duty so the residents can report suspicious activity anonymously.
Starkville police
In Starkville, the community-oriented policing plan is working, Police Chief Frank Nichols said.
Starkville’s population is slightly higher than in Columbus, but most violent crime categories are much lower, according to the statistics.
SPD, in 2014, reported one murder and one arson. It did work 27 felony assaults, though, which is more than what CPD reported.
Nichols said Starkville’s crime rate stayed relatively low, especially with violent crime, because of a working partnership with the public.
Since adopting a strong community-oriented policing model in 2014 — which has led to the department opening two substations in high crime areas — Nichols said citizens had become even more vital to local law enforcement.
“We just try to be more proactive than reactive,” Nichols said. “I think it’s important to have officers out being seen in the public, and not only that, but also to have a relationship with the citizens where they trust us and they call us when something is going on. We would cease to exist without citizen cooperation.”
Violent crime “ebbs and flows” in Starkville, Nichols said, with 2015 already showing signs of being more violent than the average year. He said his department couldn’t control what people do, but he touted his officers’ success for arresting suspects in violent crime cases.
“I can honestly say that when a violent crime happens, nine out of 10 times, we’re going to solve it,” Nichols said.
Property crime in Starkville, however, is an entirely different story.
SPD worked 10 robberies, 136 burglaries, 20 motor vehicle thefts and 677 larceny cases — though not all of the larceny cases resulted in felony charges.
Nichols said Starkville’s proximity to Mississippi State naturally produced more property crime, mostly because he said college students often make themselves easy targets.
“I put it out four or five times a year for people to lock their doors,” Nichols said. “People leave purses, laptops, guns, you name it, in plain view (in vehicles and homes) and don’t lock their doors. Those people are making it easy (on thieves).
While SPD did not release its narcotics arrest numbers to The Dispatch, Nichols said those cases make up a “huge piece of the pie.” Like Arledge, he said drugs are often involved in other types of cases, particularly violent crime.
Neither Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department, Clay County Sheriff’s Department or West Point Police Department released crime statistics to The Dispatch. All departments must submit their 2014 statistics to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by this fall.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.