HOMICIDES COULD DOUBLE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY WARNS

Same Five Factors Behind Nearly All Serious Crimes In Mobile County, Tyson Says

Illegal alcohol, drugs and guns, along with domestic violence and just
plain irresponsibility, are behind nearly 80 percent of the serious crimes
committed in Mobile County, the district attorney told his staff Thursday.

"In the first three weeks of January 2002, we have had six homicides,
perhaps seven," said John M. Tyson Jr. "That's one every three days. Every
last one of them involved either illegal drugs, illegal alcohol, illegal
guns, domestic violence or irresponsibility.

Tyson made his remarks at his office's annual report meeting, which was
held in a meeting room on the seventh floor of Mobile Government Plaza.

"One homicide every three days," Tyson said. "How many is that for the
year? Ten a month? Seven a month? December 2001 saw nine. Last year,
homicides doubled in the city of Mobile. Do you realize that we're on a
pace to double again?"

The district attorney, while naming no names, promised "rigorous
prosecution of law enforcement officers who break the public trust or
mistreat citizens" and said he will provide "senior lawyers" to assist law
enforcement in decision-making 24 hours a day.

Also, staff members will be required to get firsthand experience working
with law-enforcement agencies in the field, Tyson said.

Tyson said the evil done to America on Sept. 11 was all too familiar to
those present at the meeting. The terrorist attack, he said, made the
nation aware of three facts his staff deals with every day: that evil
people will cause violence and tragedy, that evil people seek to involve
others in their acts, and that the only protection from violence and
tragedy is to hold evil people accountable for what they do and stop them
from gaining new recruits.

Tyson said the death of 6-year-old Kearis Bonham, killed Dec. 12 by a stray
bullet in what his office contends was a deliberate attack on police
officers, is another example of the evil abroad in society.

"There is no difference in the criminal mentality of the perpetrators,"
Tyson said. "The Snug Harbor version of the Taliban murdered that innocent
child."

Tyson urged his staff to help Mobile County's citizens use their disgust at
the violence they see and turn it into respect for the law.

With that in mind, Tyson said, the office would set a new goal for 2002:
"Attack illegal alcohol, illegal drugs, illegal guns, domestic violence and
irresponsibility by building respect for our laws with every citizen."

The district attorney's Web site will soon have a new feature, too, Tyson
said: a list of all convicted felons in the county along with their crime
and sentence, and a list of all convicted pedophiles.

"We won't shrink from calling evil people what they are," Tyson said.