Getting stolen guns off the street has become a priority for Columbus Police Department, Chief Fred Shelton told the CPD Overview Committee during its meeting Thursday at the Columbus Municipal Complex.

The topic came up when board member Leroy Lollar asked how 17-year-old Curtis Lathan, who has been charged with murder, got the gun that killed 16-year-old Arykah White during a birthday party at Propst Park on July 20.

Shelton said Lathan should never have had the weapon because he’s under the age of 21. He added police have found weapons in the hands of other minors, as well as individuals convicted of violent felonies, both of which are illegal.

“That’s something that we’re working on,” Shelton said. “(Last) Thursday, Friday and Saturday we were doing checkpoints in the neighborhood, and we’re trying to get guns off the street. We’re going to do some this weekend. We’re going to come out on Saturdays making sure we’re enforcing curfew and making sure we’re trying to get these weapons off the street.”

Columbus curfew for minors is 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends. Police officers who pick up children after those hours take them to the county juvenile detention center where their parents or guardians are called to take them back home.

Shelton also stressed citizens need to be aware that criminals are stealing valuables — including weapons — out of unlocked vehicles. He said in some cases, individuals are leaving guns in the passenger seats of vehicles, and that would-be gun thieves are simply trying door handles and grabbing whatever they can out of unlocked cars.

“If you’ve got a long gun, don’t leave it in the passenger seat of your vehicle unlocked,” Shelton said.

Shelton said CPD will focus on finding these stolen weapons and keeping guns out of the hands of those who legally shouldn’t have them.

“We’re not trying to put everyone in jail, but we have got to stop the violence, and that comes from taking away the weapons,” he said.

Officer conduct

Police officer conduct was also a chief topic of discussion at the meeting.

Board member Tiffany Turner brought up two recent examples of officer conduct she said she felt was disrespectful: one, a Facebook post in which an officer called teenagers who stayed out after curfew “crotch goblins” and another in which she said several officers were rude to a group of adults during a party over the weekend.

Though Turner didn’t name the officer who posted to Facebook, The Dispatch has seen posts to the page The Official Columbus, MS Facebook Watch where Officer Toni Howard told parents to stop letting their children stay out past curfew.

“… please for the love of God, stop dropping your crotch goblins off at the movie theater and leaving them(.) I’m tired of chasing these little heathens from the Malco to Taco Bell to Applebee’s,” the post says.

Turner said while she agreed that teenagers shouldn’t be out after curfew, she thought the post was inappropriate and “dehumanizing” to children.

The other incident Turner referred to she later told The Dispatch was a private party of middle-aged adults over the weekend who called her and husband, former Ward 4 Councilman Marty Turner, to come help them because they were being questioned aggressively by police officers. No one was arrested in the incident.

Turner said those kinds of incidents keep people in the community from trusting police, which in turn keeps officers from doing their jobs.

“We need allies in the community,” she said. “That’s one reason why we want community policing. We want our police officers to be able to go into a building or a community and shoot some pool with the guys and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on around here, y’all? Let me know how I can help you.'”

Shelton, who has focused on community policing since he became chief in January 2018, said he was aware of both incidents and that they “shouldn’t be an issue again.”

While he said he can’t speak to specific officers because of personnel matters, he said his officers have gone through special training to help them handle situations with the public, including cultural sensitivity training, and other community policing methods. Generally, he said, he thinks community and police relations have improved over the years, especially given how often tips from the public have helped police with recent investigations.

However, he said, when officers are working scenes or searching for suspects in violent crimes, they may not come off as friendly.

“When we’re in the midst of an investigation and we’re trying to get a person who’s committed a serious crime, sometimes it’s going to seem like we’re a little abrasive,” Shelton said. “However, that’s not the general sentiment. When we’re talking to people, and we’re a little short and we’re more focused (it’s) because we’re trying to get that (suspect).”

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