CLEVELAND - Since the New Year, authorities in Bolivar and Washington counties say they have seen seven homicides and numerous violent crimes, including stabbings and beatings, and attempted kidnappings.

With violent crime on the apparent upswing in the usually safe, peaceful Mississippi Delta, members of the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department pondered the question, "Why is crime getting so bad?"

Delta law enforcement officials are aggressively looking at ways to reverse a troubling trend in violent crime.

However, Bolivar County Sheriff H.M. "Mack" Grimmett doesn't lay all the blame on parents, but pointed to a lack of parental control as a main factor in the proliferation of violent criminals.

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