Our genuine relationships contribute to the storytelling of Jackson

This week we published an emotional article, recounting how Jackson Police Officer Timothy McClain helped save the life of a baby found in a dumpster in Jackson. 

While the article was emotional, the interview itself had both me and Officer McClain in tears. It was more of a conversation than an interview. I just let him talk, occasionally asking him how he felt, and towards the end asking the “loaded question,” as he called it: What do you want Julius to know?

After the interview was over, he hugged me and said, “I’m glad it was you who I talked to.” 

And I knew exactly what he was talking about. 

When I went through Leadership Jackson (a several-month course through the Greater Jackson Chamber focused on community engagement) last year, one of my homework assignments was to participate in a police ride-along. 

In case you didn’t know, ride-alongs are open to the public, with a couple restrictions. 

So, I showed up at the Jackson Police Station at 7 on a Friday night and met Officer Timothy McClain, the police officer I was assigned to ride with. We spent two hours patrolling my neighborhood and going to calls. He also answered a lot of questions I had (a running theme about me). 

While I had interacted a lot with the police in the past, this was different. I saw the world through their lens for just a couple hours. How do you interact with people on a call? What does the note-taking process look like? Why does it seem like they’re just riding around? 

I think those two hours were eye-opening for both of us. I saw how much he cared, and he saw how much I cared. 

I don’t think we ever expected to be sitting across the table from each other, recounting one of the most heartbreaking recent events in Jackson, only a couple months later. 

Relationships between media and law enforcement are not always good. A lot of times they are strained. But because of the genuine relationship I built with Officer McClain and others through this program, I felt comfortable enough to ask the hard questions, and he felt comfortable enough to answer them.