Published: November 01, 2009 01:49 am      

Grand jury: dead zones top cop worry

VICKSBURG (AP) — An urgent need for radio and other communications that work everywhere in the county, without ‘‘dead zones,’’ is the top need for Warren County law enforcement, a county grand jury reports.

‘‘For the safety of our law enforcement officers, the Grand Jury urgently recommends the purchase of local or additional equipment for better communications between deputies and dispatchers with Warren County to cover dead-zone areas,’’ it wrote.

The report filed Thursday is the first in years with something other than a new jail at the top of the list. A new jail was second on the panel’s list of 10 recommendations.

The grand jury also recommended more investigators for the Vicksburg Police Department, the Warren County Sheriff’s Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the District Attorney’s office. It said jurors were concerned about officers’ pay and turnover.

The report said the panel feels strongly that a new jail is crucial to the safety of both jailers and inmates.

A modern, larger jail has been recommended by Warren County grand juries for many years. The current 128-bed facility on Cherry and Grove streets, the original portion of which was built in 1908, is perpetually filled and the overflow population housed at the Issaquena County Correctional Facility about 55 miles away in Mayersville.

Supervisors hired a Colorado-based consultant in August 2008 to prepare a recommendation for size, location and features needed in a new jail. District 5 Supervisor Richard George, board president, said in June that construction is at least three years away.

Echoing recent grand juries, those who served in October said they were pleased with the progress the county Board of Supervisors has made in ‘‘actively pursuing the study and construction of a new jail facility.’’

The grand jury also reviewed evidence in 98 cases, handing up indictments in 79 cases and finding too little evidence for prosecution in 12.

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Information from: The Vicksburg Post, http://www.vicksburgpost.com