Jericho, Arkansas

Jericho is located in northern Crittenden County at 35°17′12″N 90°13′39″W.[5] It lies along Arkansas Highway 77, 10 miles (16 km) north of West Memphis.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.46 square miles (1.2 km²), all land.[4]

As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 184 people, 66 households, and 46 families residing in the town. The population density was 151.2/km² (394.6/mi²). There were 73 housing units at an average density of 60.0/km² (156.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 4.35% White, 92.93% Black or African American, 0.54% from other races, and 2.17% from two or more races. 2.72% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 66 households, out of which 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 27.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.3% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.50.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 75.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $20,625, and the median income for a family was $28,214. Males had a median income of $22,250 versus $13,125 for females. The per capita income for the town was $8,577. About 25.0% of families and 25.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under the age of eighteen and 56.8% of those 65 or over.

On August 27, 2009, one of Jericho's seven police officers shot the town Fire Chief, Don Payne, in the hip after he appeared in court a second time on the same day to dispute two different traffic tickets. In the wake of the shooting, Judge Tonya Alexander dismissed all tickets issued by the Jericho Police Department, including some given outside of their jurisdiction. Alexander then resigned from her position. Police Chief Willie Frazier disbanded the force "until things calm down," turning patrols over the town back to the Sheriff's Department, which had patrolled the town until the 1990s. Residents, including the Fire Chief, had complained that the town's police force had issued excessive numbers of traffic citations and that they could not explain what had happened to the revenue generated from the fines collected. The chief investigator for the Sheriff's department said, "You can't even get them to answer a call, because normally they're writing tickets... They're not providing a service to the citizens."[8]

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry
• Crittenden County website