Tag Archives: Crime

Jonesboro Mayor Gives State of City, Hears Criticism over City Stars

Posted on by

Story by DDNS Reporter Mia Young

JONESBORO, Ark.- Mayor Harold Copenhaver gave his sixth State of the City address to the Jonesboro City Council on Tuesday evening, featuring major growth in the economy, finances and infrastructure, lower crime rates, and a bright future for the city.

Amid the city’s acquisition of CityStars’ finances, Copenhaver highlighted the 15 consecutive audits. He said Jonesboro is thriving and, at the end of 2025, had $28.1 million in reserves and $15 million in capital improvements.

He mentioned the growth in nearly every aspect of the city, including the 150 businesses that opened last year, 10% more calls firefighters responded to, and numerous projects ready to start. Not only projects “built for wheels,” but for pedestrians. Funds awarded to Jonesboro through the Transportation Alternatives Program will go toward new pedestrian infrastructure on the Marion Berry overpass. This will not only make the overpass safer and more walkable but will also help connect Arkansas State to the rest of Jonesboro.

“Jonesboro’s future is bright, but we’d better prepare for it now,” Copenhaver said.

He highlighted that even with the large population growth over the last decade, statistics recently released by the FBI show that violent crime is the lowest it has been in at least a decade.

More than 100,000calls were answered by dispatchers through the city’s emergency medical dispatch program. Seven calls helped guide people through CPR, and one even helped deliver a baby. Copenhaver also noted that 63% of firefighters’ and 52% of police officers’ salaries have increased.

The city also won three Trendsetter awards for Jonesboro connecting efforts, emergency medical dispatch, and the city park ranger program, and was also named Volunteer City of the Year. Copenhaver knew the council was not the only one responsible for helping win these awards; the public was a big help. He called upon citizens to make an effort to get involved and help craft a blueprint for a better city.

“But all those numbers can add up to an overall total of one. One goal, one responsibility to make Jonesboro the best city,” Copenhaver said to close his address. 

After the State of the City address, business continued as usual. A few Council members raised additional concerns regarding the handling of CityStars. Questions were raised regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, missing paperwork and invoices for individuals working the tournaments, and making sure all aspects of taking over CityStars’ finances were done legally.

Efforts are underway to move toward partial- or fully cashless events in youth sports. IT is making strides to handle this issue. The first phase of this process is to assess the cost of the required infrastructure and ensure that locations have the Wi-Fi capabilities needed to run the program.

Matt Daniel, former executive director of the Arkansas Revolution Soccer Club, spoke during public comment. He stated during the Feb. 3 City Council meeting, Copenhaver directly named him and incorrectly quoted both his CityStars resignation letter, which did not mention anyone by name, and his proposal. Daniel went on to correct Copenhaver and state what he actually said in his letter. He stated the city has maintained that CityStars operated independently, but contracts, payroll involvement, event insurance filings, and more “show a far more entangled relationship,” and people deserve to know the truth.

“Mayor Copenhaver, I have lost all confidence in your leadership for our city,” Daniel said, after stating the aforementioned documents were not any type of confidential record but documents he was a part of.

Daniel closed his public comment, giving a call to action to the council, saying, “If you have confidence in this administration, say so. If you do not, say so. Jonesboro deserves clarity.”

-30-

$3.5 Million in Federal Funding for Jonesboro Advances in U.S. Senate

Posted on by

Courtesy of the City of Jonesboro/Johnathan Reaves, Delta Digital News Service

Copenhaver said the funding would provide additional resources to prevent and fight crime in the city and keep Jonesboro on the leading edge of incorporating technology into its policing efforts.  “When we talk about improving Jonesboro, public safety is a top priority,” he said. “This is reinforcement that we are on the right track, and I thank Senator Boozman for his efforts and for the hours he and his staff have dedicated to meeting with our Jonesboro team to discuss the wins and benefits of the system. He believes in it, and it shows.”

Jonesboro’s innovative Real-Time Crime and Intelligence Center now boasts more than 700 cameras strategically positioned around the area and has been referenced more than 600 times in cases this year alone. Data collected and retained also provides a valuable resource in building evidence to close cases, helping resolve accident disputes and identifying needed traffic and safety improvements, according to Jonesboro Police Chief Rick Elliott, “Our system provides officers and detectives with critical information that saves lives, immediately alerts us when a vehicle of interest enters the region and provides helpful information on the scene of an active incident or operation. The technology investment in policing is making a difference, and it shows.”

Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd talked about the importance of information sharing between agencies, “We work closely with the City of Jonesboro and share 911 facilities. Quickly transferring data, license plate alerts and video information is a huge benefit toward the safety of our area.”

######

Operation D.E.T.E.R. Causes Mixed Reaction

Posted on by

By Jorge Quiquivix
Delta Digital News Service

WEST MEMPHIS — Even though this city has more than 25,000 residents, a police captain said it experiences violent crimes more than any other small town. That is something police hope to change.

Maisha Spears has lived in the Delta community for seven years and has seen crime get worse each year, especially when it comes to murders. West Memphis Police reported 11 murders in 2016.

“It’s actually scary because I have children of my own growing up in this neighborhood,” Spears said.

As a mother of three, Spears is one of many in the city who welcome the newly enacted crime crackdown by the West Memphis Police Department. Both the patrol and investigate units restructured so they could enact Operation Data Enhanced Targeted Enforcement and Restoration at the start of February.

Capt. Joe Baker said after being a member of the Violence Reduction Network for just more than a year, the police department visited Los Angeles to see LAPD’s Operation LASER in effect.

“We liked the elements of the program. So, we replicated the program to bring it back to West Memphis,” Baker said.

The department looked at the last three years of reporting data and searched for an area with a large concentration of violent crimes like homicides, battery, aggravated assault and terroristic acts. After an analysis, police focused on the southwest part of the city for the operation.

“It’s a really targeted effort,” Baker said. “It’s targeted based on the people committing these crimes. It’s not a suppression effort. It’s not a corner jump street effort.”

Spears agreed that particular side of the community was known for violent crimes.

“Hopefully, they’ll straighten it up because there have been a lot of killings going on in the last couple of months,” she said.

However, not everyone agrees with the crackdown. A man, who did not want to be named, was standing across the street from Maddux Elementary School. He said there’s no crackdown on crime because there is no crime.

“They’re harassing people,” he said. “The police say they are cracking down and they are setting up speed traps right in front of the school just to catch innocent parents who have nothing to do with anything.”

He said he feels violent crime in the southwest part of town is all lies because people can drive through the neighborhood without coming across gangs.

“In big cities, gangs huddle up. You see them everywhere; that’s not the case here,” the man said.

Nevertheless, Baker said the data speaks for itself. The department set a goal after the program has been in place for nine to 12 months.

“I know in a city like L.A. where we copied this from, a 3 to 5 percent decrease in their violent crime and a 10 percent decrease in their homicides is a big deal,” he said.

With more than 10 homicides last year, Baker said the odds look well for the small town.

“Ten percent, that’s one person’s life that is being saved,” he said.

The West Memphis Police Department is a pilot test for small-town adaptions of Operation LASER. If their version works, not only would the program expand to other parts of the city, Baker said his colleagues would teach other Delta communities how to incorporate it in their municipality.