P.O. Box 2956
Anniston, Alabama 36202
Press Release Contact:
Ed Moore III, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman of the Board
(205)-230-6315
Anniston Chief of Police Shane Denham and Anniston Mayor Jack Draper are scheduled to speak at the Justice and Civil Rights Initiative's farewell ceremony Monday inside the Anniston Municipal Court. Chief Denham shall serve as the keynote speaker. The event begins at 4:45 P.M.
This farewell affair will mark the agency's final day of operation after serving the community since 2013. On September 11, 2017, JCRI CEO Ed Moore III announced that he and the other JCRI Board of Directors unanimously voted to shut down the agency after Moore announced that he would be retiring from the civil and human rights field to launch a political consultation firm in Birmingham. The other Board of Directors will also step down from their positions to focus on their families or pursue other professional endeavors.
Calhoun County Circuit Clerk Kim McCarson was originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker. Due to a recent scheduling conflict, she will no longer be on program.
Statement from CEO Ed Moore III:
"This final event of JCRI will be an opportunity to show our gratitude to the men and women of this community whose shoulders we have stood on and helped make this company all that it was intended to be."
Since JCRI's founding on November 22, 2013, which was the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, JCRI has been involved in a multitude of affairs throughout northeast Alabama.
JCRI's first event took place at Jacksonville State University on April 2, 2014. The agency hosted an informational forum on "Stand Your Ground" self defense laws following multiple controversial cases with self-defense laws in the state of Florida. The panel included Etowah County Chief Assistant District Attorney Marcus Reid, Jacksonville State Chief of Police Shawn Giddy, and former candidate for sheriff of Calhoun County, Ross McGlaughn.
The most attended forum of JCRI was the Justice & Civil Rights Initiative Police and Citizens Relations Forum on August 25, 2014 at JSU's Houston Cole Library. Over 130 people, including law enforcement representatives from multiple state and federal agencies were in attendance to hear a panel discuss ways to improve police relations following the officer-involved shooting of Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown, which had occurred 16 days earlier. A panel of five people including the former police chief of Birmingham, Annetta Nunn and JSU sociology professors Jennifer Savage and Jeremy Ross were participants in the program.
JCRI branched out its presence into the political arena during the 2014 election season by partnering with the Jacksonville State University College Democrats, the Jacksonville State University College Republicans and the Jacksonville State University Office of Government Relations to host a debate on October 29, 2014 between Senator Del Marsh and his opponent, Anniston attorney Taylor Stewart. With an attendance of 275 people, it broke the record for the largest political event of Calhoun County in 2014.
JCRI has also assisted law enforcement in a number of criminal cases. Two high-profile cases include the September 2014 drive-by shooting which injured Anniston toddler LaSarge Minniefield and the April 2012 murder of Anniston National Guard sergeant Dequirea Royal. After our agency's 16-month independent investigation into the murder of Sgt. Dequirea Royal, JCRI handed its evidence in the case over to the Calhoun County District Attorney's Office. On September 16, 2015 District Attorney Brian McVeigh announced that 39-year old Kenyata Burton of Anniston had been indicted and arrested on capital murder charges. Burton is set to go on trial in 2018.
In the spring of 2016, JCRI created the Law Enforcement Assistance and Improvement Program. The LEAIP program served as a series of comprehensive, hands-on endeavors which focused on developing a strong and healthy relationship with the requesting agency in order to appropriately identify its needs related to the education or protection of the civil and human rights of citizens within the requesting agency's jurisdiction. JCRI first launched this program in partnership with Talladega Police Department by hosting a community forum with a panel of participants including Nathaniel Rutledge, the former president of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police, Anniston attorney Jason Odom and trauma/PTSD counselor Anjuli Thompson.
JCRI has proudly partnered with the Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham on two occasions. The first partnership came in 2014 for the creation of a drug market intervention program. The second was during the spring of this year when Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Carter was an instructor for a JCRI hate crimes educational seminar on April 13. The 2014 drug market intervention program, which was a joint effort also involving the Anniston Police Department and the Calhoun County District Attorney's Office, was created for drug offenders in the Norwood Homes public housing community. Within one year, six men chosen for the program withdrew from their lives as drug dealers and found suitable employment and housing. All six men successfully graduated from this program and McVeigh's office had their drug charges eliminated.
For his work with the agency, Calhoun County District Attorney Brian McVeigh received the JCRI Humanitarian Award on June 20, 2016. Anniston Police Department also received a plaque of recognition from JCRI on January 11, 2016. JCRI also presented our company service award to Heflin Assistant Chief of Police Jackie Stovall on the 4th anniversary of the day he was shot and injured by a triple homicide suspect he was attempting to arrest.
Since its creation in 2013, over 30 staff members and volunteers have worked at JCRI, making it one of the fastest-growing civil rights agencies in northeast Alabama.
(C) 2018 Justice & Civil Rights Initiative, Inc.
