A Monday evening media conference was held in front of Oscar’s Corner Store on N. 9th St.

The topic at hand was The Springfield Street Crimes Unit or as they are known in certain segments of the Black community, The Jump-Out Boys, for their propensity of jumping out of their squad cars in pursuit of dangerous felons, illegal guns and drugs.

Some community activists claim they are overstepping their authority and using high-handed methods to achieve their ends.

Case in point, one Ardell Hampton Jr., a young man who was ostensibly pulled over for too much window tint, but the Hampton family claims that was used as an excuse to search Hampton’s vehicle and when no contraband was found he was roughed up and falsely charged with resisting and fleeing. The family has hired attorney Sara Vig to represent the accused man and she says she intends to pursue civil charges against the Springfield police.

Community activist and former mayoral candidate, Samuel Johnson, led the media conference. He called for changes that would lead to greater transparency and accountability. Two things he suggested were ‘stop receipts’ where an officer would have to provide written documentation as to why a vehicle was pulled over even if no contraband was found or citations issued and greater body cam discipline such as uniform procedures as to when a body cam should be activated. He says better use of body cams might have provided greater information in the Sonya Massey shooting incident.