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Miss. mayor will pay drug dealers, gang members $10K to leave city

The mayor is willing to use his own money to help criminals relocate out of his city

Clarksdale Mayor Espy.jpg

By Police1 Staff

CLARKSDALE, Miss. — A mayor is ready to spend thousands of his own money to help move criminals out of his city.

According to Newsweek, Clarksdale Mayor Chuck Espy will give funds starting at around $10,000 to persuade people committing crimes to relocate and start new lives.

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.

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