Jackson Free Press

Not that it made the front page as any story about the previous administration and crime stats used to, but The Clarion-Ledger has a story today about how the new police chief is officially ending the weekly precinct-by-precinct crime stats, so she can supposedly take a more "holistic" look at crime in Jackson. Of course, this is direct defiance to the Maple-Linder recommendations that the Metro Crime Commission/SafeCity (with Melton as chairman) pushed so hard and for so long. And it brings to mind all those angry editorials the Ledge wrote about the last administration's handling of crime stats. So, why is the city closing ranks on crime statistics? More from the Ledge:

After 15 months of publishing the precinct-by-precinct crime reports, The Clarion-Ledger printed the last statistics on Nov. 7.

"When we come up with something new, we'll let you know," Anderson said.

She said she is revamping the crime statistical information to give a "holistic picture" of crime in the capital city.

Anderson allowed the public into a ComStat meeting last week, the last time she said she plans to open up those meetings.

"We haven't been trying to be deceptive," Anderson said during the meeting. "With ComStats, you are looking at just figures; it's not telling the whole picture. It doesn't show clearance rates."

Uh, that is true (and a point, ironically, that Chief Moore tried to make, but the media wouldn't listen). So, chief, how about showing us COMSTAT and clearance rates? How hard can it be? What is there to hide? What the hell is going on here? Where is the MCC/SafeCity Watch now? And should we expect a furious editorial in tomorrow's Ledge about this chief's trying to hide the crime picture in Jackson? We will be waiting.

Also: "we will let you know"??? I seem to remember people saying something or another about the last administraiton being "arrogant."

Previous Comments

ID

120586

Comment

A reminder to see Adam's story from last week on the topic of the city administration withholding crime statistics.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-27T12:10:17-06:00

ID

120587

Comment

You know, should anyone have any spare time this holiday week—I don't, at the moment—this would be a great blog to post old quotes and comments from media, the Ledge edit board, local bloggers and Johnson haters, etc., about the need to open up crime statistics to the public. Who knows: One might even find a Melton quote or two to add to the pile. Have at it, should anyone care to play.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-27T12:11:53-06:00

ID

120588

Comment

Here's one: from Stringfellow: "Cooperation necessary to decrease crime rate Sobering. That's the best way to describe greater Jackson's ranking as one of the country's most dangerous areas. At least that's the view of a Kansas research firm, which concluded that metropolitan Jackson, including highbrow spots in Madison and Rankin counties, was the country's fourth most lethal community in 2002. Morgan Quitno Press' research also showed that." That should answer the question about Madison and Rankin and whether their stats are relevant. Morgan-Quinto thinks so.... And now we are 28th in just 2 years! How is this not news?

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-27T13:57:55-06:00

ID

120589

Comment

Related: "The Jackson metropolitan area fared even worse, ranking 4th most dangerous. "That gives me heartburn just to hear," said Madison Police Chief Gene Waldrop, who had not seen the study." Jackson, as a city, ranked 16th. We dropped to 4th when you included the "metro" areas of Rankin and Madison. What ugly secrets we try to hide!

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-27T14:00:32-06:00

ID

120590

Comment

Hey Pike, give the date and the link if you have it, so we can put them all into context. I have the collective myself, which I'll post once this issue has gone to bed.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-27T14:02:02-06:00

ID

120591

Comment

I don't have an "archive" account with the C-L. I just lifted those comments from your link to the "crime archives" and the first few lines they provide. ;-) However, the first is from a Stringfellow article on December 14, 2003. The other is an editorial from: December 13, 2003 . Needless to say, they were all over the Morgan-Quinto stuff when Johnson was Mayor. But, now you have to think our city reporter is asleep at the wheel at the C-L.

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-27T14:08:38-06:00

ID

120592

Comment

It's all about race, IMHO. The Suburban Theogony of Jackson goes like this: 1. The city was a utopia until it integrated. 2. Once it integrated, no good can come of the city. Ever. 3. Only the suburbs, especially lily-white Madison, are worthwhile. 4. Ergo: 4th highest should be reported, because it plays into #2 (and, since everybody knows Jackson is "pulling down" the poor suburbs, #3 as well). 28th highest never should, because it casts doubt on that conclusion. How much does the C-L buy into this? I have no idea. But I know that a lot of people who accept the Suburnan Theogony buy papers, and they fit the advertising demographic that the C-L wants. I think Melton's agenda is self-serving, but independent of the Suburban Theogony. When they clash, the C-L is at his throat. When they agree, the C-L has its head so far up his derriere that it should charge him for colon cleansing. It's not about (good or bad) journalism. It's about mythmaking. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-27T14:19:58-06:00

ID

120593

Comment

"I just lifted those comments from your link to the "crime archives" and the first few lines they provide. ;-)" - me ;-) Here is the link to Donna's Morgan Quitno link... sorry about not linking that earlier...

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-27T14:43:41-06:00

ID

120594

Comment

No worries, Pike. Tom, you say "Melton's agend is self-serving." How do you mean? What do you think his agenda is? I should add that Melton said only exactly the sentiment you express in No. 3 to the North Jackson ladies at Bravo. The statement about Madison was so remarkable, either in its naivete or in Melton's brazen desire to say exactly what people want to hear, or both, that I remember how it shocked me that day. He said many remarkable things—including talking openly about the "rumors" about himself—but in many ways his remarks about Madison stood out to me as the most remarkable. From my article then (the one they all hate so much because I reported exactly what was said ... my job): He pointed to strong support for his candidacy by suburban mayors such as Mary Hawkins in Madison, which he called a “boomtown.” He said: “They must be doing something right. Everybody’s moving out of Jackson,” he said of Madison. He said Hawkins told him recently, “‘We hope you lose, so we can get the rest of the people over here.’” Hawkins did not return phone calls for confirmation.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-27T16:43:51-06:00

ID

120595

Comment

... ALMOST exactly the sentiment ... sorry

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-27T16:44:19-06:00

ID

120596

Comment

Jackson: 70.6% black, median age of 31, $30,414 average income, overall pop. 179,298 Madison: 92.8% white, median age of 36, $71,266 average income, overall pop. 16,492 "Everyone" moving to Madison, indeed. Does Melton have any idea what he said? I'd hate to think so. We both know the man shoots off his mouth; what I'd like to believe is that he was just glad-handing those little old ladies, trying to win them over. What he actually was doing, I have no idea. As for his agenda: Really good question. I think a certain amount of it is ego. I'd like to think a certain amount of it is genuine concern for those kids he worked with in west Jackson, but realistically, I think it's mainly ego. After 20+ years of sitting on the sidelines, now he gets to play mayor. I think that's basically what it's all about. We won't know for sure for a while yet, but I am becoming increasingly convinced that he didn't run for office out of the goodness of his heart. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-27T16:53:48-06:00

ID

120597

Comment

Ah, Lies, Darn Lies, and Statistics. It's easier to get a lower average when you factor in more people. Give me permission to exclude over half of Jackson and I can get their average up very quickly.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2005-12-28T11:58:00-06:00

ID

120598

Comment

Ledge editorial today about the city hiding crime stats: One of the critical ingredients to effective crime fighting is citizen involvement, but the Jackson Police Department has just told citizens to bug off. That's the effect of refusing to release precinct crime reports. The questions has to be: What is JPD trying to hide? [...] The No. 1 issue in Jackson is crime. The No. 1 reason Mayor Frank Melton was elected was to do something about it. To abandon openness is a step backward. ____ OK, here's my question. What part of Mr. Melton's campaign led the Ledge to believe that he was going to run a honest and accountable administration??? The part where they knew that he was lying to a judge in Meridian about giving them a faulty memo about MBN agents? All the chatter about "it's over!" and ending crime in 90 days? As far as I'm concerned, everything that is happening now negative with the city can be blamed on The Clarion-Ledger's pitiful news coverage and unwillingness to actually cover the campaign. And "bug off"? I'm thinking they need some fresh blood over on the editorial desk.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-28T12:12:12-06:00

ID

120599

Comment

I'd put money on the closure rate still sucking.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2005-12-28T12:35:01-06:00

ID

120600

Comment

"I'm thinking they need some fresh blood over on the editorial desk." Donna, that is the understatement of the decade!

Author

thabian

Date

2005-12-28T15:45:46-06:00

ID

120601

Comment

Ironghost, agreed 100%. There's no good way to compare Jackson and Madison; Madison is full of affluent folks, so of course the city will have more revenue, the crime rate will be lower, the yards better-maintained, etc. None of this is a bad thing. I've been to Madison, and it's a pretty area, and I can see why people would want to live there for entirely legitimate reasons. But comparing it to Jackson makes no sense, and the fact that Melton considers an affluent 92.8% white city representative of "everybody" in a predominantly working-class 70.6% black city is troublesome. I didn't consider it such at the time because I knew that crazy Melton just shot off his mouth all the time, but really it does speak volumes about the kinds of constituents he values the most. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T16:00:37-06:00

ID

120602

Comment

Donna, I can't speak for the Ledge, but there was certainly nothing I saw in Melton's background that ever suggested to me that he'd be as across-the-board incompetent as he has been during his first six months in office. Maybe it's the fever, but right now I can't think of a single thing--a single damn thing--he has done differently from Johnson that I actually agree with. Everything seems to be either geared towards improving his public image or displaying his power. I voted for Johnson in the primaries, of course, so I can't really claim to have been entirely fooled, but I really did believe at the time that this was an election involving three great candidates, and that I would have been happy with any of them. I am becoming increasingly less happy with Melton. I still hold out hope that he'll improve with time, but what I've seen so far is not encouraging. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T16:04:17-06:00

ID

120603

Comment

I wanted to point out that “COMSTAT” as the Chief and Melton are using it is entirely wrong. They make it sound like a community program similar to COPs or even "Crime Watch." But, it is a computer program that sorts and stores the crimes in a database so that the Precincts can use that data (with public interest/input) to better focus their crime efforts based on FBI criteria - or something to that effect. It is a tool, not another name for community policing which is what they are trying to pass off on us. Also, I find it funny to see current media outlets in town suddenly worried that Melton may be hiding something by withholding the stats. Especially, when members of the mainstream media accused the past mayor and chief of "cooking the books" without any proof on several occasions. They did this inspite of the fact that they provided transparent and timely updates of the crimes happening in the city. Oh yeah, and crime was going down considerably too!

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-28T16:42:27-06:00

ID

120604

Comment

Tom, the fact that, to quote you, "crazy Melton just shot his mouth off all the time" is what, to quote you again, "suggested to me that he'd be as across-the-board incompetent as he has been during his first six months in office." Smart politicians and smart business leaders don't "shoot their mouths off all the time." Shows a lack of thought, and that suggests a tendency towards incompetence. The CL certainly bought into his "image" without bothering to dig into what lay behind it. Like lawsuits, for instance. This latest is just mind boggling. You can't change what you can't measure. If COMSTAT doesn't provide the whole picture, then let's *supplement* that data with other data, not just toss it out for the fun of it.

Author

kate

Date

2005-12-28T19:39:00-06:00

ID

120605

Comment

Don't forget that The Clarion-Ledger knew full well that the lawsuits were happening against Melton and decided NOT to talk about that during the campaign. And most damning, they -- or at least their top editors who directed campaign coverage -- knew full well that Mr. Melton was LYING to the judge because he game THEM the memo, and they were being sued. I find the fact that they reported so few of the facts about Mr. Melton unconscionable. I also must say this right now about Mr. Melton's status as a "folk hero" based on those Bottom Lines and putting black boys' photos on billboards: I've read many of the Bottom Lines, and I don't get exactly why they excited people so much. Many of them don't make a lick of sense, and he's lambasting public officials for doing things that weren't even legal in many of them. He seems to believe that Jacksonians were emotional fools who don't care about constitutional rights ... at least of "thugs." All that said, I still blame the media most for not reporting the whole story about Melton. People don't k now what they don't know, even if they are trying to turn their heads to keep from seeing the whole picture. Good media outlets report the whole picture regardless of whether it's what people think they want to see. Chips ... where they may.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-28T19:45:55-06:00

ID

120606

Comment

Donna, as someone who was a 12-year-old fan of "The Bottom Line" I can only say that I guess one had to be there--and maybe had to be 12, too. Melton was not always about landing on "thugs" (I don't even remember him using the word during the early years, when I was watching); he also said some things that I remember really liking* at the time. One of my favorite Melton snippets was where he actually railed against whites in town who were complaining about "gangs" in their newly transitional neighborhoods, where he exasperatedly said "You may be shocked to learn that a group of young black men is not necessarily a 'gang.'" And God bless him for saying that a time when nobody else was saying it (remember: there was no JFP, and the Jackson Advocate was way off in its own subscriber base), when the racist rhetoric was even more over-the-top than it is now. He has also transformed the lives of lots of at-risk black youth in west Jackson over the years through his volunteer work. And Melton has no understanding of boundaries, so he let this affect every area of his life in a way that activists probably shouldn't, but the fact that he kept it up for as long as he did speaks volumes about his potential for good, I think. I have no doubt that, if he had not run for mayor, our impression of him as a human being would be much higher than it is. It's probably naive to talk about public figures being "good people," but I think it's safe to say that politics brings out the worst in him, and feeds the worst parts of his nature. I see now that he was wise not to run for mayor in 1993, when he was far more popular than he is now and could have walked away with it. He said at the time that he wouldn't be right for the job. Now I believe him. He really has become a shadow of his former self. This is NOT what I would have ever imagined a Frank Melton administration looking like. Kate, lots of really hotheaded but competent leaders have hurt their causes by shooting off their mouths over the years. The best example that comes to mind right away is Jesse Jackson, but other (extremely disparate) names that come to mind include George Patton, Andrea Dworkin, and to a certain extent even Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis (either of whom would have made fine presidents, but both of whom committed serious verbal gaffes). I don't think verbal sloppiness necessarily suggests overall sloppiness. Melton is a passionate guy who isn't always careful about what he says. What we have learned, and what I did not know before, is that he's also a passionate guy who isn't always careful about what he does. The two certainly went together in this case, but I would not have been able to derive (b) from (a). Though make no mistake: I did vote for Johnson in the primaries. I voted for Melton in the general only because I anticipated that if Whitlow won we would be looking at an administration full of white Republicans who believe in "zero tolerance," whatever the hell that means, and I at least figured that Melton would keep much of Johnson's staff on board. And there are some familiar names, still, which gives me some hope that Melton is at least getting sage advice, and may one day actually decide to take some of it. Cheers, TH * Some things about me have changed since I was 12, but I've never been keen on referring to young black men as "thugs" or groups of young black men as "gangs." That comes from actually growing up around black kids my age.

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T20:43:20-06:00

ID

120607

Comment

One other thing about Melton that people looking at the situation today might not get: In 1990, the mayor was white, the police chief was white, the C-L editor-in-chief and a disproportionate bunch of the editorial staff were white, and local TV news staff were almost all white. Virtually EVERYBODY in a position of race-boundary-crossing authority was white. Then along comes Frank Melton. To see a wealthy, powerful black guy speak with authority on issues facing the city, from a position of power, felt damned good. To see him put his pen in his pocket and say "And THAT, my friends, is the bottom line." after verbally laying the smack down on various "untouchable" public figures (as likely as not to be white) felt inspiring. And folks who knew him from his work at the Farish Street YWCA and other volunteer outlets knew him to be a bona fide hero who stepped outside of his double-gated mansion and put himself out in the real world when he didn't have to, when he could have stayed sheltered like so many people did and found plenty of safe things he could do to entertain himself for the rest of his life. That was Melton's appeal for me. It's not quite right to say that I liked his "ideas" or liked his "platform," that I thought he would actually solve the crime problem in 90 days, or anything like that. The appeal for me was more raw, more visceral, than that. Frank Melton was badass. Frank Melton gave a damn. Frank Melton would move heaven and earth, and could--he'd already proven it once. That's why, even though I voted for Johnson, I didn't cry myself to sleep or anything when he won. I had a lot of respect for the man at the time. I wanted him to be as good as his PR. So far, it would be an understatement to say that he's not living up to that. I knew PR wasn't everything; that's why I voted for Johnson despite the mythical qualities of the great and mighty Frank Melton. But I also felt enough of the Melton aura that part of me wanted him to win, just to see if he really would be able to do impossible things overnight. What did the Country Club Resistance want? I think they basically hated Johnson and wanted to get rid of him. It's kind of like Republican crossovers right now who are raising cain trying to get Chuck Espy to beat Bennie Thompson in the primaries. Is it because they love Chuck Espy? No. It's because they hate Bennie Thompson, and they know their best chance of replacing him with somebody who has less congressional seniority is to support a black Democrat. But they didn't really like Melton much, not really (you could tell that by now relentlessly negative they sounded even after he was elected), and they don't really like Espy much, either. I mean, best case scenario, they just elected a pro-union black Democrat--somebody they wouldn't support in a million years if there was a white Republican running who stood a chance in hell. They're settling because they wanted to unseat the incumbent. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T21:04:57-06:00

ID

120608

Comment

The mistake I think most of us are making, BTW, is in thinking that Melton won on ideas, or won because of widespread dissatisfaction with Johnson, or anything like that. He did not. He won on sheer force of personality. N-JAM, I think, represents a statistically insignificant part of Melton's base of support. Most people who voted for him, or supported him, just liked him; they were pro-Melton, not anti-Johnson, and they were pro-Melton for reasons that had nothing to do with actual policy differences with Johnson. That's why he never had a platform: He never needed one. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T21:27:57-06:00

ID

120609

Comment

You know, all of this aside (because certain people are reading this, and I don't want to make them happy for all the wrong reasons), I will reiterate: - I voted for Harvey Johnson, and I'd do it again. - I voted for Frank Melton in the general election only because I wanted to preserve as much of the old administration as possible, and felt that a Republican candidate would bring in new people, top to bottom. - I fully support your coverage of this administration, and I hope you continue to hold it accountable. - All of the posts above are meant to explain the phenomenon of why Melton won. They're my attempts at description, not prescription. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-28T22:32:14-06:00

ID

120610

Comment

Tom, I agree and empathize with all of your comments regarding Melton except one, your belief that most people who voted for Melton were just pro-Melton, not anti-Johnson and had nothing to do with Johnson's policies. I disagree, because I while I think Melton's charisma and high-profile from years of his Bottom Line commentaries certainly give people a false sense of his preparedness for the office, I think most of the votes for Frank were really more about getting rid of Harvey Johnson, who many felt had become a do nothing mayor in his second term who enjoyed running around in expensive suits and hyping up his efforts to revitalize downtown and Fondren while neglecting South Jackson and "Da Hood", which alienated him from his traditional "base" that got him elected the first time. This was also more of a perception than reality; in truth the Johnson administration did more to clean up run down and blighted areas of Midtown and Hwy 80 than any previous administration that I can recall, and the crime stats showed that something Moore's JPD was doing was right. But any mayor of Jackson is going to look bad when you consider the problem of trying to maintain an aging city infrastructure (e.g, roads, water, sewer, drainage) with an stagnant tax base, decreased business presence, and ever increasing percentage of residents living at or below the poverty line, because you just don't have the resources to fix everyone's problems in a timely fashion without having to raise taxes or apply for every gov't grant known to man just to pave a city street or clean out a drainage ditch. Johnson is an extremely intelligent man. Anyone who has had a chance to meet and talk with him realizes that immediately. The problem that appeared to me is that he tended to focus so much on the numbers and statistics to defend his record that he forget the importance of appearing accessible to the common folk outside of an election year, particularly in his second term. Couple that with the relentless media assaults regarding crime, growing resentment from NE Jksn middle-class whites poised to move to Madison or Rankin County out of fear of high crime and a desire to escape discomfort at being a "minority", and a number of high-profile businesses leaving Jackson (most often because of economic reasons beyond the Mayor's control), and you realize that Johnson had a deck stacked against him. Not to make him sound like a victim, merely pointing out the reality of being mayor of Jackson in the 21st Century.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2005-12-29T10:32:00-06:00

ID

120611

Comment

At the risk of going against the stream here, I've heard from a few ex-downtown businesses that Johnson's bunch was simply impossible to work for or with. He had his ideas of who should have businesses down there, seemingly.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2005-12-29T11:48:24-06:00

ID

120612

Comment

The Clarion-Ledger is getting so twisted up in its own reporting that it's not even funny: In a story today on the latest homicide reported, the paper makes a point of comparing this year's murder number with 2004 and mentions the overall number last year, which included justified shootings, but not this year, thus ensuring that a larger number is floating around in there. Then, for this year, it doesn't mention that for the first half of 2005, the murder rate in Jackson had dropped dramatically, but shot back up in the second half. If it had been the opposite, you KNOW the paper would be all over it, and on the front page. Sigh. BTW, where's the Morgan-Quitno report, Ledge? You're proving us right out here. Thanks. The number of violent deaths this year in Jackson is fewer than the death toll in 2004 when a total of 57 people were killed. Of that number 52 were considered criminal homicides. Why not just give ALL the numbers and let people judge for themselves? Oh yes, I forgot, that's out of style these days.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T11:52:33-06:00

ID

120613

Comment

He had his ideas of who should have businesses down there, seemingly. So does Mr. Melton, so that one might be a wash. I've also been told by prominent North Jackson businessmen that the reason that so many "powerful" businessmen didn't like Johnson is that he was a bit too mayoral -- that is, keeping them waiting at meetings and such. It does sound a certain amount of deference was expected from the city's first black mayor that didn't come. And that ticked some folks off.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T11:59:45-06:00

ID

120614

Comment

Donna, as someone who was a 12-year-old fan of "The Bottom Line" I can only say that I guess one had to be there--and maybe had to be 12, too. The ones I've read tend to employ 12-year-old logic, with due respect. ;-) Melton was not always about landing on "thugs" (I don't even remember him using the word during the early years, when I was watching); he also said some things that I remember really liking* at the time. Of course you did. Mr. Melton is a genuis at sound bites -- that is, saying what people want to hear? (Remember that Ramsey cartoon taking off of our Bravo! story?) The problem is, different people want to hear different things, and it's the media's job to report that candidates are just talking in sound bites with little substance, or plans, behind them. And many of Mr. Melton sound bites dramatically contradict each other, as people are beginning to see on the crime stat issue. Let me guess: All of a sudden, all those angry folks with the Metro Crime Commission and its various iterations are going to all of a sudden not think COMSTAT is important anymore because "their guy" won? Please. That is so the opposite of intelligence and integrity.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T12:02:34-06:00

ID

120615

Comment

BTW, other cities and states have learned lessons about electing "badasses" with few other qualifications.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T12:03:21-06:00

ID

120616

Comment

Ledge today reports that Melton is going to do the public a huge favor and release crime stats "next year"; note the goofy Agnew part: Jackson Mayor Frank Melton said he plans to release crime statistics in the coming year but hasn't decided how often. Also, Melton said he'd rather the numbers come to the media through a third party, such as the crime watchdog group SafeCity Initiative, to help ensure their accuracy. [...] Anderson on Tuesday said she would release the revamped statistics quarterly — the same report she's required to provide the FBI. Clarion-Ledger Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew said Melton assured him on Wednesday that the newspaper would be getting more accurate stats. "As a former media professional himself, the mayor should understand that the public's right to know and to make up its own mind about public documents usurps any internal reason for nondisclosure," Agnew said. "I am happy Mayor Melton has reached that conclusion. "The statistics were never published to portray the city in a negative light," Agnew said. "Rather, the publication of the numbers gave citizens information that enabled them to collectively help police officers in their admirable battle of ridding city streets of criminal behavior." [...] The Clarion-Ledger last ran the stats Nov. 7. Melton said a department employee told the chief weeks ago the statistics may not be accurate. He said he had suspected some crimes were downgraded from felonies to misdemeanors through a skewed classification system. "We're not going to print information here that's wrong," he said. Stats are going through SafeCity Watch first??????? Melton is listed on their board masthead, for goodness sake! And it has people on the board now who will excuse anything Melton does without bothering to notice the facts. Not saying all of them. And the part where Agnew says the Ledge never ran stats in a light to make the city look bad??? ROTFLMAO. Uh, Ron, where's the big story on last year's Morgan-Quitno rankings?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T12:13:26-06:00

ID

120617

Comment

"At the risk of going against the stream here, I've heard from a few ex-downtown businesses that Johnson's bunch was simply impossible to work for or with. He had his ideas of who should have businesses down there, seemingly." I guess it depends on who you talk to, but I've also heard that complaint. Morever, I heard plenty of griping from developers who claimed that the City was increasingly difficult to work with in terms of permitting, approvals, and just overall customer service. This problem wasn't just limited to downtown development.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2005-12-29T12:15:12-06:00

ID

120618

Comment

Yeah, I've heard those things, too. It'll be interesting to see if we see any improvements.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-29T12:22:40-06:00

ID

120619

Comment

I heard from some folks who did nonprofit work in the city (specifically, one or two people who had peripherally associated with the AMOS Network) that they did not find the Johnson administration easy to deal with. But I think some context might be useful here. How many people who complained about Johnson had actually worked with the Ditto administration, which was by most accounts much worse about this kind of thing? I think folks have a tendency to see Johnson in a vacuum, without looking at his predecessors. To a certain extent this was Johnson's own fault--he came on board promising pretty much a clean slate, then realized that there were things he couldn't do as mayor and adjusted accordingly. I'm not sure we've had a mayor during my lifetime who came in completely prepared. Looking back, I think of Danks, Ditto, and Johnson, and I heard basically the same complaints about all three of them, and I reckon I'll probably hear the same complaints about Melton, too. If he doesn't do much worse, that is, and he may. Of the four, BTW, Johnson had the best resume--and, if I'm not mistaken, just as long of a tenure as Danks and Ditto (I think Danks had 8 years; I know Ditto did). So if there is an anti-incumbent sentiment that played a significant role in the election, it might just be an 8-year itch. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-12-29T19:19:19-06:00

ID

120620

Comment

WAPT's report on the crime stats. BTW, cheers to WAPT for pushing this issue harder than other media. The Jackson Police Department says it will now issue crime statistics to the public every three months rather than weekly. The reason it says is to make the information more "user friendly" for residents. JPD officials said releasing the numbers every week doesn't paint a true picture of how crime is being handled in the city. But some residents say having that information every week is important. Assistant Chief Roy Sandefer says a quarterly report will show what crimes happened as well as the number of arrests made in those cases. He also says residents can go to their local precinct every month and meet with officers to talk about specific problems in their neighborhoods. They're closing ranks ...

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-30T12:18:46-06:00

ID

120621

Comment

Ledge editorial today about crime stats: Jackson Mayor Frank Melton will be the first to tell you that Jackson has a crime problem, not a perception problem. That is what he said repeatedly during the campaign last year. So it was discouraging that his new police chief, Shirlene Anderson, stopped releasing weekly crime reports to the media, saying she was concerned that the statistics were not showing the true picture of crime. She wants to provide information on how many crimes are solved as well. After criticism from this paper and other media, Melton said Thursday that he plans to release crime statistics in the coming year. He says he has been concerned about accuracy and wants to involve a third party in the process. He hasn't determined the frequency it would be released. OK, a couple things: Why isn't the Ledge nastily slamming Chief Anderson for making a very similar statement to Chief Moore's about "perception"??? Why are they now reporting what a police chief says about "clearance rates" (how many are solved) rather than ignore that part as they did in the past??? I love the "criticism from this paper and other media" part. The Clarion-Ledger is softballing this administration left and right. It's WAPT, and the Jackson Free Press, that has been pushing the accountability envelope -- and everyone knows it. Finally, why aren't they blasting the idea that Melton is trying to use his buddies on the SafeCity group (formerly Metro Crime Commission) to massage the way for his crime stats to be released??? Why aren't they mentioning that the city cannot legally give those stats to that private group and refuse them to the media until that group parses them??? Ledge = hypocrite newspaper.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-12-30T12:28:42-06:00

ID

120622

Comment

No doubt Ladd! What's even worst is how they keep saying, "the clarion liar published the crime reports until Nov 22." Yet, they don't take the administration to task for not even getting them a crime report to publish until sometime in late August or September. What a joke! Also, the city has not updated their own web page since April! Well, except to delete everyone's name who heads a department and insert Melton's picture. To light a little fire under the City's cyber butt, I will point out that if you watch the little flash animation on the City's homepage as the pictures change you will see pictures of HJJ with different groups! This post will probably lead to a mass firing; but, the truth must be told! Sorry to digress...

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-12-30T13:15:46-06:00

ID

120623

Comment

Why does everyone think the suburban areas are trying to hide crime stats? All of these stats are a matter of public record and can be obtained from the FBI. The larger mass of people with the largest concentration of poverty (the City of Jackson) does indeed have a higher crime RATE. This means certain violent crimes occur more frequently (per 100,000 people) than in the burbs. This trend is true of almost every MSA in America. It is not so much a matter of race as of poverty. Just go to the stats, look at the 100 largest cities in American and see where Jackson stands.

Author

realtime

Date

2005-12-31T17:01:25-06:00

ID

120624

Comment

Also, the city has not updated their own web page since April! Well, except to delete everyone's name who heads a department and insert Melton's picture. To light a little fire under the City's cyber butt, I will point out that if you watch the little flash animation on the City's homepage as the pictures change you will see pictures of HJJ with different groups! This post will probably lead to a mass firing; but, the truth must be told! LOL! Well, well, well, they went and took off the small flash pictures of Johnson. Of course they didn't have time to update anything else on the city webpage. I think it is great they make knee-jerk decisions based on our posts. Especially when the proof is so clear after the statement above. Toot, toot! Read on Frank! BTW: What kind of hand shake is that?

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-01-15T01:49:48-06:00

ID

120625

Comment

pikersam writes: BTW: What kind of hand shake is that? Oh, that's a handshake! I thought they were just skipping merrily down the street holding hands... Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-01-15T02:13:30-06:00

ID

120626

Comment

Way to go, Pike. You just made a very good point at the city's expense. They have time to "sweep" away Johnson connections and references, but not to do so many things that actually need to be done. Nice symbol.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-01-15T12:43:48-06:00