Jackson Free Press

Jackson City Council President Marshand Crisler spoke out last week against the city police department's tight lips regarding crime figures, in contrast to Former Police Chief Robert Moore, who provided weekly reports on crime statistics. The computer-generated statistics, called COMSTAT reports, were used to pinpoint what crime was occurring where, and were provided to both City Council and the media.

COMSTAT was the brainchild of New York Deputy Commissioner and crime-fighting guru Jack Maple. After helping turn the NYPD around, Maple became a partner in Linder Maple Group Consultants, which was hired in 1999 by Jackson to devise a plan to reverse the city's increasing crime numbers.

Moore was hired, in part, because of his his dedication to the results of the $153,000 Linder Maple study, and COMSTAT reports were a major facet of the plan.

At a COMSTAT meeting, precinct commanders discussed crime in their areas, with maps of hot crime spots computer-projected onto a screen. Then the chief and his command staff worked with the individual commanders to outline a plan of attack on dealing with the trends. A commander with a good plan got praise. A commander with no plan got a dirty look and some help on developing one.

Popular opinion says that Moore got softer on dealing with commanders after the press was later allowed to attend the meetings. Nevertheless, crime statistics fell steadily during Moore's reign—the FBI reported that in early 2005 Jackson had its second lowest crime rate in 24 years.

Mayor Frank Melton, however, questioned the value of the process, telling The Clarion-Ledger that the stats focus the police department, the public and the media on numbers, but not on real solutions.

"Can you imagine sitting in a room with a bunch of command officers where everybody is thinking about their numbers?" Melton told The Clarion-Ledger in a Dec. 17 story critical of the city's refusal to release crime statistics and hold regular COMSTAT meetings. WAPT first reported the development on Wednesday, Dec. 14, but Chief Anderson refused to talk to the TV station about the crime statistics.

Since the arrival of the new administration in July, COMSTAT meetings have not been open to the public, and Police Chief Shirlene Anderson says she does not engage in the meetings every week anymore.

"We have staff meetings," Shirlene told Crisler at the Dec. 13 meeting. "From time to time we do have COMSTAT meetings, but all of you are more than welcome to attend the meetings."

Echoing Melton, Anderson said COMSTAT meetings are of limited importance.

"We don't have COMSTAT meetings every week because … only one part of that (the Linder-Maple Study) was taken and put into the police department. And there are other parts of that component that need to be played with COMSTAT to make it be a functioning and vital part of the police department of the city," Anderson told the council.

The Linder-Maple study also called for a 600-cop head count on the Jackson Police force. The force had about 500 at the time of Melton's arrival, and the mayor has since chosen to emphasize a smaller force with better pay. Some of the police academy budget was even redirected to fund a November "boot camp" proposal for troubled city youths.

Crisler agreed that while the city needed to be "more proactive in everything we do, we also need to be better informed as to what's going on and we need to get that information to let us know, because we have great concerns … and we would like to have a report on hand to say that crime activity has gone down and that we're doing great things and it would help us communicate with our constituents."

"At the end of the day the bottom line is people have to be made to feel safe. It's not about what the numbers say. It's one simple question, 'Do you feel safe?' and we've got a lot of work to do," Melton told WAPT.

This statement is a dramatic contrast to Melton's campaign statements that "perception" was an elusive unit of measurement and could not be relied upon.

"The truth is that crime is a problem in the city," Melton said at a June campaign rally. "This is not about perception. This is about reality."

Melton had attacked the Uniform Crime Reports submitted by the Jackson Police Department, saying the numbers themselves were inaccurate, or worse, doctored by a police department intent on reporting that crime statistics were falling. That allegation of fraud has not been proven, however.

Jackson Police Foundation President Susan Lunardini questioned why the police department and the mayor would withhold the information from the public.

"Isn't that information public record? If you've had five car break-ins in your subdivision, don't you have a right to know that?"

At the Monday council work session, Crisler said he planned to debate Melton's refusal to release crime statistics at the Tuesday evening council session.

Previous Comments

ID

64862

Comment

Here we go again. The mayor has seen fit to change the rules in the middle of game. We now not only have to worry about crime, but now we must divide our attention to look at our mayor. He has once again used selective memory to help him forget his promises to the citizens of Jackson. He accused the last administration of cover-ups and doctored up statistics. Now he is doing even worse by hiding these same statistics from us. I guess he thinks that if you really don't know what's going on, you have no choice but to feel safe. He has only been predominant in the Highway 80 area. What about the rest of Jackson? What about the high crime everywhere else? How can we feel safe when even the gun carrying mayor has bodyguards with him everywhere he goes? This does not send a good message. He also preaches about turning our youth around by making them more responsible and respectable, but you often see him on television with his own cap turned around backwards like the thugs that he says he wants to rid this town of. I say lead by example. Walk the walk, do not just talk the talk.

Author

lance

Date

2005-12-21T21:56:46-06:00

ID

64863

Comment

*YEAH* Lance - I agree whole-heartedly with what you said, EXCEPT Melton's 'police presence & crack-down' on Hwy 80. Was it not just a month ago that a male night clerk at the Day's Inn on Hwy 80 was gunned down at 9pm? That crime occurred on a busy area of 80 where anyone driving by could have witnessed it simply by turning their head. Sure, we don't see the prostitutes as much, but that is simply because they have been 'pushed' down the road toward the other end of town where there is not as much traffic by JPD. They are still there! The Jackson Southwest Hotel (old Holiday Inn) is STILL a haven for homeless persons that routinely stay in the rooms in the back - why do we not have police presence circling this location, some of my family members came to town a couple of weeks ago and stayed at the Jacksonian (old Ramada) and were approached many times in effort to have them purchase drugs in the parking lots. *Jacksonian security did respond to the complaint when it was made and forced these individuals off the property - HOWEVER - they are still in the general area also. So I guess the message has gotten out to the homeless, thugs, prostitutes and drug dealers - make sure you keep it on the 'down-low' so Melton doesn't have to work this area again and can continue to claim it as being 'corrected'

Author

Katie D

Date

2005-12-21T22:18:26-06:00

ID

64864

Comment

I personally could careless about the numbers and stats! But I do believe that the Mayor has an obligation to provide the aforementioned for whoever does care. How enlightening to learn that a cap worn backward makes you a thug.

Author

K RHODES

Date

2005-12-21T22:29:54-06:00

ID

64865

Comment

I, for the most part , agree that wearing your cap backwards does not make you a thug. This started out as a statement many years ago by our youth as showing that they are diverse and are their own people. I like their forwardness. The social perception in this environment (the Jackson area) along with the mayor's own words are some of the reasons that I wrote my comments as I did. I have been over most of the U S and depending on the area that you are in, different dress, language, and simple demeanor, dictates the perception of a person. The mayor is very quick to label anyone or anything. He will quickly speak against something and then use the same thing that he has degraded as if his comments do not apply to him. If you were at his "speech" when he accepted the office of mayor, please remember that he made several references to the dress attire of our young people. I, for one do not particularly agree with some of the dress that our youth lives by, but I am acceptable to change. Our honorable mayor wants to have it both ways. Talk about an issue and then turn around and do the same thing. He criticized the previous mayor about the jobs that our police were doing/not doing. He then turns around and prevents them from doing their job by his interference. The mayor's job is not to participate in arrests, but to make sure that these things are being done in a legal manner. In his big sweep a couple of weeks ago (I fully agree with the idea that kids should be in school) his cowboy tactics once again caused a problem that in my opinion was more serious. One of the female students that he picked up escaped upon arrival to the detention center. I do not know if she has yet been found but this made media news in the efforts to locate her. How does he explain this one? The problem that this created is very serious. He has not addressed this issue at all. Even if the child was found just minutes later, would this not make you wonder if this is the way to get kids back in school? K Rhodes you may not care about numbers and stats. Thats fine. I do not live by them, but they serve as a gauge for me to monitor the progress of issues that are important to me.

Author

lance

Date

2005-12-22T06:18:37-06:00