INDIANOLA, Miss.–Indianola’s violence problem is being addressed with an executive order limiting how many people can gather inside or out, a midnight curfew and new police technology. But, Mayor Ken Featherstone told the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors Monday that the city has a serious issue to overcome.
“We may be budgeted for 29, 29 officers. Currently we may be anywhere from 14 to 15. So we’re short,” said the mayor. He said the city doesn’t pay police officers enough to be competitive with other Delta cities.
But, he said the city has stepped up to get a handle on a problem he says has been going on for 50 years, which is the unlawful gathering of large crowds downtown, particularly on Church St., which two weeks ago led to a mass shooting. Three people were killed, all 19 years old. At least 16 other people were wounded.
Featherstone said one of the solutions is getting pushback. That’s the limiting of crowd sizes both inside and outside.
“Caught a lot of heat over that as you can imagine, from bars…even the B;B; King Museum,” he said.
In response the executive order was modified to say that no more than 80 percent of a businesses capacity can be gathered. He also said that businesses, like the museum, which already has events planned through next year, can get prior approval from the Board of Alderman.
“You’re gonna start to see a lot of surveillance cameras around town, the Church St. corridor area. I think that’s gonna make definite impacts,” he said.
Featherstone also said the city is investing in smaller police vehicles aimed at crowd control. He said the city planned the investments before the shooting.
