Jackson starts task force to address crime
Published 7:42 pm Saturday, March 21, 2015
Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson is putting together a task force to put an end to gang activity in Selma and the violence that is associated with it.
Selma has seen three murders so far in 2015, and two of them occurred last weekend within an hour of one another.
The task force will be made up of agents from the Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, state and federal agents.
“We have a lot of gang warfare going on right now, and plus the combination of the summer coming, I don’t want innocent people getting shot,” Jackson said. “Almost every other night you can hear gunfire around here in Selma.”
Daily incident reports from the Selma Police Department have numerous reports of shots fired throughout the city, and Jackson wants to make Selma a safer place for its citizens.
“Every citizen has a right to feel safe, walk the streets safely and enjoy Selma safely without having to worry about getting hit by a stray bullet from somebody because these gunslingers want to keep shooting at each other,” Jackson said. “We’re going to run them out of town, they’re going to go underground or they’re going to be arrested.”
According to Jackson, there has been an increase of gang activity.
“We’ve got some of them coming from out of town recruiting members, so we want to nip this in the bud right now,” Jackson said.
The taskforce, Jackson said, will help take care of gangs in Selma.
“There’s about to be a big cleanup in Selma,” Jackson said. “We’re about to take a big broom and sweep all of these gangsters up out of here.”
Outside agencies have shown an urgency to help deal with the issues.
“They want to help out,” Jackson said. “Selma being such a historic city, they want to help keep it safe too, so we’re getting total cooperation.”