Miss. mayor will pay drug dealers, gang members $10K to leave city
CLARKSDALE, Miss. June 1 2019
One southern mayor is so fed up with crime, drugs and gangs and that he is willing to pay them, to leave town, permanently.
Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy dig into his own pockets to give funds starting at around $10,000 to persuade people committing crimes to relocate and start new lives.
The hope is that the money will persuade those who commit crimes to move elsewhere and start new lives.
“We are talking directly to three groups of people. Drug dealers, gang members, and any wannabe criminals in the city of Clarksdale,” he said.
“They may be in the wrong environment,” Espy told reporters at Clarksdale City Hall. “So, what I’m saying as the mayor today, I will put money on the line to assist those type of people to move out of the city.
“It’s not to say you just want one criminal to move from one city to the next,” Espy added. “They might just not have the good opportunities they need in this city.
The move is a part of a five-point plan to reduce crime that will be reviewed by the Clarksdale Police department.
“We are talking directly to three groups of people. Drug dealers, gang members, and any wannabe criminals in the city of Clarksdale,” Espy said.
Espy told reporters during a press conference that these criminals may be in the wrong environment and they may not have the good opportunities they need in the city.
For those who want to turn their lives around, etiquette classes and job assistance will be put in place. But for those who don’t want to be model citizens, Espy and the city’s police department are giving them the option to get out.
Efforts to fight crime in the city have been working, the mayor reported. More personnel have been added to the police department to handle felony cases.
Twelve homicides were committed in 2018, but with the new efforts, there has only been one homicide this year to date.
