Police arrests down after switch to Louisville jail
Philadelphia Police arrests were down nearly half in June, but the cost for holding prisoners dropped nearly $10,000 after a move to Winston County.
Arrests fell 42 percent in June when compared to the same month a year ago after the Mayor and Board of Aldermen contracted with Winston County to house prisoners.
Philadelphia Police made 38 arrests in June 2020, down when compared to the previous year when there were 72 arrests, according to records provided by the city.
The city began housing prisoners in Winston County in June, paying $25 per prisoner per day. This came about after the mayor and board rejected a contract with Neshoba County for a flat rate of $12,500 per month. That would have been an increase of $3,400 per month from the previous contract signed decades ago.
After the savings was announced at the last board meeting, there were questions about fewer arrests and officials said they were about the same.
Ward 2 Alderman Jim Fulton raised the question at the last meeting and the Democrat evaluated actual arrest records in June.
“It looks like we are saving money,” Fulton said. “But I am concerned about the number of arrests. I hope we are not letting offenders go because of the logistics to Louisville. We are going to have to watch this for the next six months and see how it is trending. As of right now, everything looks good.”
Philadelphia Police Chief Julian Greer said logistics have nothing to do with who gets arrested. He did not have July numbers but was expected to have presented them to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen Tuesday night.
“Taking prisoners to Winston County has not been a problem,” Greer said. “It is an inconvenience to have to drive farther, and with the processes they have up there. But we don’t try to get away from it. The board made this decision and that is where we will house our prisoners.”
Greer added that coronavirus pandemic has caused a lot of differences between now and a year ago.
“You have several things that you have to take into consideration,” Greer said. “We had a curfew in June. We have stores that are being closed early. The casinos are closed. It’s not that officers aren’t doing anything. There is not as much traffic out there.”
Greer said he has no doubt the numbers will come back up when the world gets back to normal.
“When things open back up and more people are out, there will likely be more violators and probably more arrests. It goes together,” Greer said. “(As of July 31) there have been 20 arrests in July. We can’t make up reasons to arrest people. If the reason to arrest a person is there, we will arrest them and take them on to Winston County.
“It’s not a bad thing that arrests have come down,” Greer added. “Less people are breaking the law. We are getting less calls right now. Maybe they feel like they need to stay home more because of COVID-19.”
There were no numbers available to compare the number of calls to last year.
Another change has been how the department handles misdemeanor arrests such as disorderly conduct or shoplifting.
“In the past, we would take them straight to jail,” Greer said, “Now, the officer can give them a citation and a court date before the municipal judge. This started in June and had nothing to do with going to Winston County.”
As far as how does the change affects the department’s manpower, Greer said the department is set up to have four officers on patrol, 24/7. They currently have 22 of their 26 slots filled.
“We never want to operate with less than three on the shift at all times,” Greer said. “If someone has to go to Louisville, we still have three on patrol. We have reserve officers we can call in.”
Alderman-at Large Leroy Clemons said he agrees that COVID-19 and the way the city handles some misdemeanors have contributed to the lower number of arrests.
“I am not concerned about the decrease in arrests right now,” Clemons said. “The amount of money they are taking in in municipal court has increased. We have not seen a drop in the fines.”