2 Rookie Jackson Cops Busted Smoking Weed And Drinking In Park With Guns

Jackson, MS – Two rookie Jackson police officers got caught smoking marijuana and drinking in a public park in Flowood last week.

The incident occurred at about 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 17 when Flowood police officers responded to Nature Trail Park after someone called 911 and reported two people smoking marijuana in the park, WLBT reported.

When Flowood police arrived on the scene, they found a man and a woman sitting on a bench near the pond with a small amount of marijuana, open containers of alcohol, and “marijuana paraphernalia.”

Officials said the officers also spotted a gun sitting on the table next to the suspects, according to WLBT.

Then the officers found a second handgun sitting there, too.

It turned out that the man and woman who were allegedly smoking marijuana in the park were brand-new graduates of the police academy and they had recently been sworn in to the Jackson Police Department, WLBT reported.

But that didn’t make a difference for what happened next.

Flowood police arrested off-duty Jackson Police Officers Darius Short and Kenya McCarty at the park and took their weapons out of their possession.

They were both charged with possession of marijuana and open container, according to WLBT.

The Jackson Police Department said that both Officer Short and Officer McCarty had been placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation into the incident was conducted.

Because the officers were both brand-new rookies on the department, sources said it was likely they were both still on probation and could be summarily fired for such an egregious violation of department policy and state law.

Jackson Police Chief James Davis has requested the bodycam videos of the incident from the Flowood Police Department, WLBT reported.