Local leaders spoke at a forum Sunday aimed at stopping violence following an unusually grim week that saw four deaths in Pike County.
Mayors Quordiniah Lockley of McComb, Tammy Witherspoon of Magnolia and Percy Robinson of Summit, along with police chiefs Garland Ward of McComb, Sonya Woodall of Magnolia and Kenny Cotton of Summit provided their thoughts and answered audience questions at the forum sponsored by the McComb NAACP Youth Council and held at Flowery Mount Baptist Church. Pike County Sheriff James Brumfield was invited to participate, but did not attend, organizers said. Rep. Daryl Porter, D-Summit, moderated.
Witherspoon asked for a show of hands for how many school district leaders were present. As no hands were raised, Witherspoon said, that was one reason crime has been a problem.
“You have your mayors and you have your chief, but we all need to be sitting right there,” she said. “The superintendents need to be sitting right there because these are all the children.”
Witherspoon reflected on the recent shootings, the death of 6-year-old Oterious Marks, who died Feb. 19 in a drive-by shooting at Central Park in McComb. She said many people, including herself, knew the people now charged with murder and did not speak up.
“Get your superintendents up,” she said. “They’re making the big money. These guys are not making the money. You ask them why are those school districts (have) F’s when you’re making $150,000 a year?”
Lockley said gun violence has been one of the biggest problems in McComb and it will take a community effort to make things better.
“Let me assure the citizens that my police chief and I, we have talked with different agencies trying to determine what is the best solution and how we can go about as well as asking for their help with gun violence,” he said.
Lockley said he and Ward do not always tell what they are doing because he does not want to give criminals an advantage, but they are doing their jobs. He also said most of the gun violence in McComb comes from outside.
“What you need to understand is that 65% of the gun violence that is going on in the city of McComb comes from people from other parts of Pike County, Walthall County and other counties,” he said. “It’s not us who are doing the majority of the gun firing in the city of McComb.”
Three of the four people arrested in the park shooting lived outside Magnolia. three others lived in McComb.
Officials also discussed the possibility of building a juvenile detention center, which Pike County hasn’t had in about a decade.
Cotton, a former sheriff, said county supervisors told him when he held that office that the county could not afford a detention center, but he believes building one could save lives.
“Sometimes, from a law enforcement standpoint, it looks like some people are on the sideline,” Cotton said. “If you aren’t saying anything or doing anything positive to discourage it, promote a better environment, you are on the sideline. All of us have got to play a part.”
McComb NAACP branch president Mamie Kettle said she supports a new detention center, but it must be different than the one that was previously in Pike County.
“The Pike County Detention Center was not fit for our children to be in,” she said. “We sat back. It was poor living condition. The ACLU came down. They shut it down.”
Kettle said she still has pictures of the old detention center.
“It was a disgrace because we as a Black community stood outside and let them treat our children like dogs,” she said.
Woodall also said crime has increasingly gotten worse.
“The last couple of years have really been different,” she said. “When I say different, it’s been a violent last two years. We’re really begging and pleading with the community to help. Most cases, once it makes it to law enforcement, you’re too deep in the game.”
Ward said citizens see things police do not and said if someone wants to tell him something, he will keep the conversation confidential.
“Since I’ve been the chief, I’ve seen a lot,” Ward said. “Every time something happens where someone is killed, it takes a piece of me. Then, when I turn around and have to make an arrest, it takes another piece of me. So I’m here to say, we need your help.”
Robinson, who also is commissioner of Summit Rotary basketball league, talked about how he knew Marks and that his death hurt him.
“I remember the mother bringing him to sign him up for basketball,” Robinson said. “As a matter of fact, I am the one who weighed him and got his height, so that had a devastating effect on me.”
