The public will have input into the development of a city plan to fight crime, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said Thursday.

“There’s no way we can have a (safe) community or city without an engaged public,” he said.

Flaggs Monday appointed a 14-member committee to examine crime in the city and social media issues concerning the city. All of the committee members are city officials who Flaggs said have some connection with crime prevention in the city.

The committee had an organizational meeting Thursday.

“This is not an indictment on the police chief or anybody,” he said. “This is an indictment on our community and our city. We’ve got to do something to make it zero tolerance on crime.”

He said the task force will be divided into subcommittees on social media, community policing, city ordinances and surveillance and statistics.

“We’ll schedule meetings for each of these committees to have public hearings before we put in a comprehensive package,” he said.

“This is the time to take everything that has to do with crime and put it together. We have ordinances on the books that are meaningless. We’re going to have consultants come in. All we’re going to do is come together and have a comprehensive approach to crime.”

He said the task force is expected to present a report with recommendations on combating crime within 60 to 90 days.

Flaggs formed the committee because of reported increased criminal activity in the city and discussions about crimes on Facebook.

“I never said that I was going to attack Facebook. I simply said we’re going to fight crime with Facebook; we’re not creating crime with Facebook,” he said.

He repeated a comment he made Monday that some of the crime information in the Facebook posts are inaccurate, and many of the crimes discussed on Facebook are under investigation.

“The problem is, the criminals are getting the information before the police department is, and in some cases they get arrested and before the police get them to the police department somebody’s bonded him out,” Flaggs said.

Police Chief Milton Moore, Flaggs said, “Has my complete support; 300 percent. And he’s not my brother-in-law, Facebook.”

Flaggs said he was not going to allow disorder in the city.

“My grandmamma, your grandmamma; my mamma, your mamma; … everybody has a right to feel safe, and no community ought to be excluded from safety. Everybody ought to be safe,” he said.

South Ward Alderman Alex Monsour said everyone in the community needs to come together and get an understanding of zero tolerance.

“And the only way we’re going to do that is for everybody to get an understanding of where their role is in this thing and how to get it down to where we don’t have this senseless of firing guns (in the city),” he said. “Some of these ordinances just state it’s illegal to do something with no teeth. We’re trying to change that. We’re trying to put some teeth in them.”

Monsour believes the city will reach a point where it can provide a safer city through the task force, “With all of our first responders and our legal people getting together and just getting an understanding of where ought to get there, and this (the task force) is a good way to get there.”