SURVEY

Dear Resident,

One of the most basic expectations of city government is public safety, both in police and fire protection. Hattiesburg residents and businesses have the benefit of an effective, well-trained police department and a quality, responsive fire department. These departments – and the results they produce – speak for themselves.

Violent crime was down for a second straight year in 2023. Unofficial numbers at year’s end indicate that aggravated assaults were cut around over half from the previous year, which in turn as a 20% drop over the year before that. Our fire department holds a Class 3 rating and last year answered thousands of calls, saving both life and property. At the same time, we have to continue to look for ways to give our men and women in both departments the tools they need to keep both themselves and the public as safe as possible.  

Law enforcement, in particular, continues to evolve in ways that use more technology and focuses more on community-based policing. This is a necessary transformation, particularly as departments across the country struggle to recruit enough personnel to meet staffing needs. Technology in many cases can bridge the gap, but this must be done in collaboration with – and with the support and trust of – the community.

We must, as a city, continue to learn about and embrace technologies that will keep officers safe and help them do their job to keep the public safe. However, we must be transparent about the use of potential new methods and allow the public to ask questions and provide input. While we all want our community to be safe, we also need to balance that aim with safeguarding privacy, empowering people to engage in lawful behavior, working to avoid bias, maintaining trust and being upfront with our intentions and goals.

As we enter a new year and work to further reduce crime and make neighborhoods even safer, I believe the time is right to have a robust conversation about available innovations for first responders. These include drone technology for police and fire departments, as well as camera-assisted enforcement of state-required motorist liability insurance and speed limits in school zones during active school zone time periods.

The principal goal is making sure that we are doing all we can to keep our personnel, residents, businesses and visitors as safe as possible – while also safeguarding transparency and privacy.

We hope you will join in this conversation, ask questions and give feedback. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I am committed to finding and providing the public with as much information as possible so that our administration and the City Council can make informed policy decisions. Citizen engagement works toward safer communities, and that is my hope as we move forward on evaluating these new technologies.

All the best,

Toby Barker – Mayor
City of Hattiesburg

• Ward 1: Monday, January 22 – 7:00 p.m. – New Covenant Baptist Church (3202 W 7th St)
• Ward 2: Tuesday, January 23 – 7:00 p.m. – C.E. Roy Community Center (300 E 5th St)
• Ward 3: Thursday, February 1 – 7:00 p.m. – University Baptist Church (3200 W Arlington Loop)
• Ward 4: Thursday, February 22 – 7:00 p.m. – Sigler Center (315 Conti St)
• Ward 5: Tuesday, February 27 – 7:00 p.m. – Lillie Burney Learning Center (901 Ida Ave)

#1. DRONE USE DURING INCIDENTS – FIRE & POLICE

#3. CAMERAS & SCHOOL ZONES