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GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS MISSISSIPPI PEACE OFFICERS WEEK MAY 15-19, 2017

GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS MISSISSIPPI PEACE OFFICERS WEEK MAY 15-19, 2017

POLICE MEMORIAL & TOP COP EVENT PLANNED FOR MAY 18th

HINDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP TO HONOR SHERIFF MALCOLM McMILLIN

 

Governor Phil Bryant has proclaimed May 15-19, 2017, as Police Week in Mississippi and memorials are planned to honor the Mississippi law enforcement officer who died in the line of duty.

“We owe a debt of honor and remembrance to MBN Agent Lee Tartt”, said Shannon Fuller, Chairman of the Mississippi Center for Police & Sheriffs.  The Center is a Mississippi non-profit that has for eleven years organized Mississippi’s largest Police Memorial and TOP COP luncheon each May at the Mississippi Trade Mart.  Other ongoing projects of the Center include professional development training to law enforcement officers and the operation of Joyce’s Hope Home, which serves abused, runaway, neglected, at-risk juvenile females.   

“Nationally, one hundred thirty five (135) officers, including federal, state, local, tribal and territorial officers, were killed in the line of duty in 2016.  One of the Fallen is MBN Agent Lee Tartt from Mississippi”, said Ed Worthington, Chair of Central MS Crime Stoppers.

“Firearms-related incidents were the number one cause of officer deaths in 2016 with 64 fatalities.  Of those 64 firearms-related deaths, 21 were ambush attacks.  Eight multiple –shooting death incidents claimed the lives of 20 officers in 2016.  Those incidents included five officers killed in ambush attacks in Dallas, Texas, and three in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Traffic-related incidents were the second-leading cause with 53 fatalities.   Officers also died in the line of duty by beatings, drowning, aircraft crash, stabbing and heart attacks”, Worthington said.   

 

Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Special Agent James Lee Tartt was shot and killed as he and other members of the MS Department of Public Safety SWAT Team made entry in a home during a barricade situation near Iuka.   

A male subject had taken his wife and child hostage in the home following a domestic dispute, but allowed them to leave during the standoff.  The man opened fire on the SWAT Team members after the woman and child were released.  Special Agent Tartt was fatally wounded, and three other members of the team were wounded.

The subject was shot and killed.  

Special Agent Tartt served the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics for 16 years and had served in law enforcement for 22 years. He is survived by his wife and two children.   

“The Police Memorial Day and TOP COP Luncheon is a collaboration of Central Mississippi Crime Stoppers, Jackson Police Foundation, Jackson Police Department, Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, Hinds County Board of Supervisors, Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, BancorpSouth, Miskelly Furniture, The Hundred Club of Jackson, USA Pawn, and several other area business community partners,” said Judge Bill Skinner.

Skinner was a longtime Jackson Police Narcotics Officer before being elected Judge in 1999.  Skinner, his mother and two brothers are the survivors of Jackson Police Lieutenant William L. Skinner, who was killed in the line of duty August 19, 1971.

Skinner, Steven Pickett, former Chief Deputy to Sheriff Malcolm McMillin and now Chairman of the Mississippi Parole Board, Linda Woolley of the Jackson Police Department, along with the late Public Safety Commissioner Jim Ingram, first organized the Police Memorial & TOP COP event in 2006.

 

“Every year attendance grows. Remembering the fallen and honoring those who provide meritorious service is an important reason why we do this each year.  After Commissioner Ingram passed in 2009, we honored him by presenting the ‘Jim Ingram Lifetime Achievement Award’ to recipients who have exemplified Commissioner Ingram’s character. The 2017 recipient of the Jim Ingram Lifetime Achievement Award will be Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong”, said Doug Boone, Chair of The Hundred Club.

“The 2017 George Phillips Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Jesse Bingham. Bingham is a retired Trooper and longtime Southern District of Mississippi Law Enforcement Coordinator for the US Attorney’s Office. “The Distinguished Service Award is presented in memory of the nation’s longest serving United States Attorney George Phillips”, said Doug Boone.  

“A new award has been established to honor the life and career of the late Sheriff Malcolm McMillin.  The “Malcolm McMillin Public Service Award” will for the first time be presented and the recipient is Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance.  In 2010 a scholarship fund was established to honor the Sheriff.  During the luncheon, Hinds Community College President Clyde Muse will announce the endowment has been reached with the support of event sponsors,” Boone concluded.

During National Police Week, May 15-19, locally, the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Sonny Montgomery Veteran Administration Police, Mississippi Wildlife & Fisheries, Jackson Police Department, Mississippi Attorney General’s Office and the Mississippi Police Chiefs Association hold services. Several other agencies also host Police Memorial events around the state.

The Police Memorial and TOP COP event will be held Thursday, May 18, 2017, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Trade Mart.  Preceding the luncheon, the Jackson Police Department Memorial Service will be held in front of the JPD Headquarters on Pascagoula Street at 10:00 a.m.

“On average, every 58 hours another officer dies in the line of duty in America” said Judge Bill Skinner.

The public is invited to attend the Memorials and Luncheon.  Financial support is needed and appreciated to support the crowd of 700 officers, family members and the Malcolm McMillin Scholarship.  “This event is one I want my kids to see.  We sing the national anthem, pray for the fallen officer’s families, honor local community hero TOP COPS, and wave the flag,” concluded Fuller.

Contacts:

Doug Boone, Chair The Hundred Club, 601-622-6555

Ed Worthington, Chair Central MS Crime Stoppers, 601-896-5200

Judge Bill Skinner, 601-260-6629

Steven Pickett 601-260-9876

 

Donations may be addressed to

Mississippi Center for Police & Sheriffs

Post Office Box 1201 – Raymond, MS 39154

 

Facebook MS Center for Police & Sheriffs

 

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