JONESBORO -- A specialized police patrol unit activated in 2005 but discontinued two years ago because of a lack of personnel has been reactivated in Jonesboro, said Lt. Jim Chambers, who will oversee the program.
The Jonesboro Police Department Street Crimes Unit will consist of six officers and one sergeant and will patrol known high-crime areas in the Craighead County city of 71,551.
"We'll be trying to catch those doing the crimes in those areas," Chambers said. "If not, at least our presence will serve as a deterrent."
The unit began patrolling Jan. 2. The seven officers will work 10-hour shifts during the week under the department's Special Operations Division. Those hours will be flexible, Chambers said. The officers wear uniforms and drive regular patrol vehicles.
"We want a quick, reactive force," he said. "It will be all hands on one case. If something has a high priority, they'll be there."
The city first activated the unit -- then referred to as the Prowl Unit -- in September 2005 under the administration of former Police Chief Michael Yates and former Mayor Doug Formon, who is now a Jonesboro Police Department patrol officer.
When introducing the unit then, Formon said he wanted to "take it up another step" in aggressively arresting drug offenders.
Yates identified areas in Jonesboro that were considered high-crime spots and placed the Prowl Unit in those areas. Yates resigned Aug. 25, 2014, after Mayor Harold Perrin suspended him without pay for 30 days for making critical comments about a local newspaper reporter on social media.
Chief Rick Elliott suspended the patrol unit two years ago because the number of officers on the Jonesboro police force was dwindling, department spokesman Paul Holmes said.
"The intent was always for the suspension to be temporary until we got our numbers back up," Holmes said. "We were waiting for the manpower."
The police force now has 160 officers.
Chambers said police will identify the high-crime areas using data from the department's Crime Analysis Unit and the Criminal Investigation Division. He said the unit will focus primarily on street-level narcotics activities, property crimes, vice crimes such as prostitution and gambling, vehicle break-ins and violent crimes such as robberies and assaults.
"Our biggest problem now is with vehicle break-ins," Chambers said.
Police investigated more than a dozen vehicle break-ins during the Christmas weekend.
"We'll be looking at weekly trends," Chambers said. "We'll see an area that needs more patrols and we'll be there."
He said the Street Crime Unit officers will be available to assist other officers if needed during weather-related issues, police pursuits, active shooters or other ongoing emergencies.
"We want to cut down on crime," Chambers said. "We're going to go into areas where we are needed and stop it."
NW News on 01/14/2017