Greenville, MS | Local Initiatives Support Corporation

With a poverty rate of 20% or higher for the past 40 years, Greenville, Mississippi is considered a persistent poverty community. As such, the city faces a multitude of systematic issues including concentrations of poverty, substandard housing, gang activity, limited mobility and transportation systems, and significant distrust between community members and law enforcement agencies. The city has a continually contracting population of around 29,000 residents and a shrinking tax base, leading to a growing inventory of empty businesses and homes. In recent years, Greenville has struggled with rising gun-related crime and a proliferation of clubs and bars, blighted properties, and vacant buildings that create hot spot locations of assaults and other violent crimes. The Greenville Police Department (GPD) faces significant challenges stemming from limited staffing, technology, and equipment. GPD has fewer sworn personnel than it needs to adequately cover the jurisdiction, making it difficult to respond effectively to calls-for-service and other public safety needs.

The Greenville Police Department (GPD) is using RVCRI funding to implement a new audio and video surveillance technology that will help law enforcement monitor locations where vacant and deteriorated properties lead to hot spots of violent crime, homicide, weapons violations, and aggravated assaults. Technology solutions can help bridge the coverage gap caused by limited police staff across a large geography. GPD works closely with community partners to oversee this project, which is part of a larger community initiative known as the Greenville Safety Collaborative, a group of community leaders and stakeholders that came together to build a healthier community by restoring safety in Greenville’s Central Business District. The Greenville Safety Collaborative facilitates joint learning and trust building through community engagement with residents and business owners and utilizes Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) training and practices to understand the impact of place and crime. The GPD makes recommendations to the collaborative on community-based approaches to policing, crime reduction, and neighborhood infrastructure conditions, while partners like the Greater Greenville Housing & Revitalization Association, Inc. and the Washington County Economic Alliance provide guidance on community outreach and engagement.