Despite various legal concerns raised, the Jackson City Council voted to approve an ordinance that would require security guards to be stationed at any business that has three violent crimes within a 90-day period.
Shortly after the ordinance was proposed, City Attorney Drew Martin told the City Council he believed the ordinance was unenforceable and violated state law. Other cities around the country have passed similar ordinances, but they didn't stand up to constitutional challenges, he said.
“I've told the city council on a number of occasions that I think this ordinance is well-intentioned, but I don't believe it's enforceable,” Martin said. “I don't believe the city is legally allowed to require businesses to hire security.”
Ward 3 City Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who first proposed the ordinance, wasn't worried about the legal issues that would come with it. To Stokes, the ordinance is just another way the city can reduce crime and increase public safety, a major priority for 2024 that he told the Clarion-Ledger in January.
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“If someone wants to challenge it, this is the United States of America, and any law can be challenged,” he said. “If you feel like the (city) law department can't enforce it, then hire outside counsel. But don't tell the public, 'There's no way people are going to keep dying in this city and nobody's doing anything.'”
That said, several legal questions were raised during the meeting: How would the city enforce the ordinance? What constitutes a “violent crime”? Can the city require businesses to hire security? Isn't public safety the job of the police? What happens if a business doesn't hire security?
None of these questions were answered. Instead, a vote was taken and the ordinance passed 5-1. Stokes, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley, Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, Ward 2 Councilman Angelique Lee, and Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks voted in favor. Ward 4 Councilman Brian Grisel voted against. Ward 7 Councilman Virgi Lindsay abstained.
Additionally, before the vote, Stokes and Hartley were harsh on the city's attorneys, questioning why they hadn't tried to resolve the legal issues before the meeting.
“Mr. Stokes is in the middle of a murder case. I'm in the middle of a murder case,” Hartley said. “What I would ask of people is to think outside the box. Don't think lawyer, lawyer, lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. Take all the input that council is giving you and think about how to make it work. And if it doesn't, and I agree, let's hire an outside firm that can do that.”
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Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba was quick to defend his law department.
“The City Attorney's Office has defended and won several major lawsuits against the city in recent weeks and will continue to do so,” Lumumba said. “I believe the legal department, like any other department, is overburdened and has a lot to accomplish.”
“It's not that they (the City Attorney's Office) aren't willing to do this,” he added. “I think it's no secret that you (Stokes) and I don't necessarily see eye to eye. I support the spirit of what you're trying to accomplish. The question is, how do we get there?”
Both Lee and Lindsay suggested waiting to vote on the ordinance to give the law department more time to review it, but Stokes wasn't up for that. He wanted the ordinance to be adopted on the spot.
“As long as these people continue to die, I'm going to introduce the bill,” Stokes said.
The ordinance will go into effect 30 days after it passes. Because there are legal concerns about the ordinance, city attorneys said they plan to solicit suggestions from the Jackson Police Department and the city's Planning and Development Department to see if it can be improved through amendments.
Stokes’ ordinance follows another recently passed ordinance, also of questionable constitutionality, that would require gas stations and convenience stores to connect their surveillance cameras to the Jackson Police Department’s real-time command center, giving Jackson Police real-time access to the businesses’ security cameras.
