JPD officers cheer on students headed into literacy exams

By Crystal Tisme

Click here for updates on this story

    JACKSON, Mississippi (WAPT) — Jackson police officers cheered students on as they headed into school to take a literacy assessment.

Reimagine Prep Middle School students were met with smiles and a warm welcome Tuesday morning from Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade and other officers. The students were taking literacy exams and were given words of encouragement from officers.

Along with encouraging students, Wade said there needs to be more positive interactions between young people and police.

“Meet kids where they’re at to show them that we support them,” Wade said. “We don’t want a negative interaction. We want a positive interaction and help them be successful in school and at home.

“We believe that in our community, and we are in South Jackson, our scholars need to see that positivity in a good light and not in a negative light, so they really, really made them feel well today,” Cartrina Benson, assistant principal of literacy and history, said.

Benson said some students went up to the officers and expressed their gratitude and how they wanted to be members of the Jackson Police Department one day.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.