FOIA records show Dan George Road had the highest call volume among the seven areas reviewed
By The Editorial Team | The People’s Paper MS
There has been a lot of conversation about crime, violence, and alleged gang activity in parts of Simpson County. But when a community gets a reputation for being a certain way, there is one question worth asking: What do the records actually show?
That is the question we set out to answer.
The People’s Paper MS obtained Simpson County law enforcement call-for-service records covering January 1, 2024, through September 24, 2026, for seven roads or road groupings that have been identified by residents as areas of concern. When we put the records together, they show 535 calls for service across the seven areas during the reporting period.
Before we go any further, though, there is something important we want our readers to understand: 535 calls for service does not mean 535 crimes occurred.
That distinction matters. Let’s break it down.
A call for service can involve a medical emergency, a traffic crash, a motorist needing assistance, an alarm, an animal complaint, or a welfare check. It can also involve a domestic disturbance, theft, burglary, assault, shots-fired report, or another criminal complaint.
So these numbers tell us about law enforcement activity recorded in these areas, not a simple count of crimes.
Breaking Down the Data
According to the records reviewed by The People’s Paper MS, the calls were distributed this way:
- Dan George Road: 167 calls
- Zion Hill Road Grouping: 148 calls
- Cordis Rankin Road: 68 calls
- Blackwell Road: 60 calls
- Shelly Road: 47 calls
- Woodland Hills Road: 32 calls
- John L. May Road: 13 calls
Together, those seven records account for 535 calls for service. And one road clearly had the largest number in the records we reviewed: Dan George Road, with 167 calls.
But the numbers need some context.
A Closer Look at Dan George Road
The Dan George Road records include the kinds of routine calls that law enforcement agencies handle every day. But they also contain reports that naturally draw more attention, including shots-fired calls, physical disturbances, burglaries, thefts, and domestic incidents.
The records also document several requests from residents for extra patrols along Dan George Road during 2026.
That data does not tell us why those calls are happening. It does, however, tell us something important: residents have been actively asking law enforcement for additional attention in the area, while the call logs show a substantial amount of law enforcement activity during the period we reviewed.
The People’s Paper MS also previously reported on a series of overnight shootings in Simpson County that began directly on Dan George Road. One man was injured in that incident and later tragically died at Magee General Hospital from multiple gunshot wounds.
That tragedy is a matter of public record. But we also believe something else is a part of responsible journalism: A community should never be defined by one tragic incident.
That is why we are looking at the records instead of relying on reputation, rumors, or social media conversations.
Wait, What Does the 148 for Zion Hill Mean?
This is probably the easiest number to misunderstand. The 148 calls attributed to the Zion Hill grouping do not mean Zion Hill Church Road alone had 148 calls.
The records supplied to us group together five similarly named roads in the data tracking system:
- Zion Hill Church Road
- Zion Hill Road
- Zionell Church Road
- Zionell Road
- Zionelle Road
For purposes of this story, we refer to those records as the Zion Hill road grouping. We are making that distinction because accuracy matters. If five separate roads are represented in the records, we do not want readers thinking the entire 148-call figure belongs to one single street.
The grouping includes a variety of calls, ranging from medical and welfare-related calls to disturbances, domestic incidents, suspicious activity, thefts, shots-fired reports, animal calls, crashes, alarms, and motorist assistance. Again, the presence of a call in the records does not automatically mean a crime occurred.
What About the Other Roads?
The remaining records also show a predictable mixture of everyday calls and more serious incidents.
- Cordis Rankin Road (68 calls): The records include verbal disturbances, vandalism, trespassing, a stolen-vehicle-related investigation, and an isolated shots-fired call.
- Blackwell Road (60 calls): The records include physical and verbal disturbances, domestic calls, suspicious-subject complaints, and a shots-fired dispatch.
- Shelly Road (47 calls): The records include juvenile problems, verbal arguments, civil property matters, and a shots-fired call.
- Woodland Hills Road (32 calls): The records largely reflect medical calls, administrative checks, and false residential alarms.
- John L. May Road (13 calls): The records include calls involving trees down across the roadway, animals, and motorist assistance.
That breakdown is important because it shows why simply putting seven numbers on a page does not tell the whole story. The type of call matters.
The Gang Question
And then we get to the question that prompted much of the public conversation in the first place: Do these records establish gang activity?
Based on the call-for-service records provided to The People’s Paper MS, we cannot say that they do. The records we reviewed do not classify the incidents as gang-related.
That does not prove that gang activity does not exist. It means something much more specific: These particular records do not establish it.
That distinction is vital. A rumor repeated enough times can begin to sound like a fact. But a newsroom has a responsibility to separate the two.
If law enforcement has formally identified gang involvement in particular investigations, that is something we believe the public should be able to examine through documented records. If it has not, residents deserve to know that, too.
So What Do We Actually Know?
- We know that the sheriff’s office records reviewed contain 535 calls for service across the seven road records or groupings during the reporting period.
- We know Dan George Road had 167 calls, the highest total among the individual records reviewed.
- We know the Zion Hill figure of 148 represents five similarly named roads, not Zion Hill Church Road by itself.
- We know the records contain everything from routine assistance calls and medical emergencies to disturbances, domestic incidents, thefts, burglaries, and shots-fired reports.
- And we know the call logs themselves do not establish that these areas are gang-related.
What we are working to find out from these records alone is why the calls are occurring at the levels reflected in the data. Are multiple calls coming from the exact same addresses? Are certain types of calls concentrated in particular areas? Are some of the more serious incidents connected? Have investigators identified patterns that do not appear in the basic dispatch logs?
Those are the questions worth asking next.
The Beginning of the Investigation, Not the End
This is where we believe the story gets bigger than seven numbers. The People’s Paper MS is not interested in labeling a neighborhood based on rumor. We are interested in looking at the records, asking questions, and letting the documented evidence lead us where it leads.
If there are patterns of violence that need to be understood, our community deserves to know. If there are documented gang investigations, residents deserve accurate information about them. And if some of what people have been hearing cannot be supported by the records, our community deserves to know that, too.
Our job is not to tell residents what to think about their neighborhoods. Our job is to ask the questions and show you what we can verify. This records review gives us an excellent starting point.
The next step is to go deeper into the individual incident reports, arrest records, and other available documentation to determine what happened behind the numbers. Because when people are talking about their safety, their homes, and their children, rumors are never enough.
An Invitation to Our Readers: Help Us Set the Record Straight
Our commitment is to find the ground truth, and we believe the people who live in these neighborhoods day in and day out know that truth better than anyone else.
If you are a resident of any of these areas, or even if you are an active gang member or associate who wants to step forward and set the record straight about what is actually happening on our streets, The People’s Paper MS is willing to pull up a chair and listen to your story.
We take your privacy and security with absolute seriousness. If you prefer, we will keep your identity completely anonymous to protect you and your family. Let’s move past the rumors and map out the facts together.
Contact our investigative desk directly at: info@thepeoplespaperms.com or reporters@thepeoplespaperms.com
The People’s Paper MS will continue following the records, asking the tough questions, and reporting what we can verify. Our community deserves more than a reputation. It deserves the facts.
Have an area you’d like us to investigate or a story you think we should cover? Tell us in the comments or send us a direct message. Your tip could help point us toward the next question worth asking.
