A 14-member crime prevention task force has been appointed to examine crime in Vicksburg and address what Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said is inaccurate information about crime being spread through social media.

Flaggs named the committee at the start of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s meeting Monday. According to a written statement released before the meeting, the committee will “address the occurrence of crimes that are taking place in the city, and also social media issues as it relates to matters regarding the city of Vicksburg.”

Flaggs said the committee will have an inaugural meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall Annex, but it will not be open to the public.

“In Vicksburg, we have no intention to allow social media to create crime,” Flaggs said. “We’ll use social media to solve crime, not create crime.”

He said the committee may have to consider appointing someone to respond to crime-related Facebook posts.

“There’s a lot of discussion on Facebook going on about crimes in the city and a lot of it is inaccurate,” Flaggs said. Things that are opinionated about; that crimes have been reported and we have no record of it. No 911 calls of it — nothing. People are just discussing things, and I think we need to find a way to best respond to Facebook, when I thought we could ignore it.

“It’s building up and it’s adversely affecting the city. People are commenting and saying things and they’re not true. Families’ names and being exposed; it’s not fair to the community.”

The committee members include Flaggs as chairman, city attorney Nancy Thomas, city prosecutor Julie Decker, assistant prosecutor Stephen McMillin, Municipal Judge Toni Terrett, Judge Pro Tem Penny Lawson, Community Court Judge Allen Derivaux, Police Chief Milton Moore, deputy chiefs Bobby Stewart and Eric Paymon, patrol commander Capt. Penny Jones, investigations supervisor Sgt. Johnnie Edwards, downtown security owner Frederick Lane and human resources director Anne Bradley.

“We’ll probably start getting input from the community at a later date,” he said. “I want a comprehensive report on crime, and it should be ready in 60 to 90 days. We’re going to do studies, we’re going to look at other cities; look at everything. I’m going to divide that committee up into subcommittees. We’ve got to do this.”