Jackson Free Press

Community policing took a body blow last week when Mayor Frank Melton and Jackson Police Chief Shirlene Anderson—a man and a woman put there to be anti-crime crusaders—suddenly dumped the department's Crime Prevention Unit as of Oct. 1, leaving eight crime prevention specialists out of work with only days' notice, and saving about $275,000 in salaries. The eight employees learned of the job eliminations on Tuesday before their jobs ended on Friday; they are getting paid through Oct. 15. The budget awards $110,000 in raises to legal personnel.

The move is angering Jacksonians throughout the city. "The idea of eliminating the crime prevention unit is absurd to me," said Velesha Williams, director of the MetroJackson Community Prevention Coalition. "I think our governing body should (answer) to the people who elected it instead of itself."

Several dozen upset citizens attended a special city council meeting called by Council President Marshand Crisler on Thursday and even more packed the follow-up Oct. 4 meeting. The mayor is also cutting 10 other JPD positions, including officers at the city's detention center where suspects are held before being transported to the Hinds County Jail.

But only three council members—Crisler, Leslie McLemore of Ward 2 and Margaret Barrett Simon of Ward 7—were present to hear their concerns. Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen was out of town on business. The other three—Kenneth Stokes of Ward 3, Charles Tillman of Ward 5 and Frank Bluntson of Ward 4—all signaled each other and got up to leave as the citizens started to come forth. Shortly thereafter, all members of the mayoral staff who were present—the mayor was not there—walked out.

The mayor had not told the council about the elimination of the unit in advance; all with the exception of Stokes said they learned about it through the media along with everyone else.

The Crime Prevention Unit was formed as a tool about a decade ago to help communities prevent crime by working with city residents to implement community-oriented policing strategies. The eight specialists, all certified by the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners, are often the first "officers" (although they're not technically police officers) seen by members of the community—the liaisons, in effect, between the neighborhoods and the department. Unit members organize and represent the department at community meetings about crime sprees, prevention and other concerns. They go to people's homes and businesses to instruct them on making their homes more secure and to give prevention advice. They also host educational programs in local schools, including Drug Awareness, Personal Safety, Stranger Danger and Law Enforcement Day.

Melton is skeptical about the need for such a unit, telling the media that he and other top police officials could visit schools instead and "mentor" the students themselves. Melton repeated the challenge at the Oct. 4 council meeting, asking McLemore to personally research "when was the last time the Crime Prevention Unit has been in a public school."

The specialists themselves disputed Melton's claims. "We DO NOT MENTOR ... we teach common sense approaches to preventing crime and ways to enhance the quality life in the community," said Precinct 4 crime prevention specialist Sheri Jones in an e-mail update passed around by Bob Oertel, moderator of Precinct 4's COPS program.

Precinct 2 specialist Sharon Sims said that the unit had planned a trip this month with 25 city students between ages 12-15 to discuss career choices. Sims said the trip is now canceled due to the shutdown of the unit.

"My decision is firm and final. That's all I have to say," Melton told the skeptical crowd filling the council chambers, while reminding all that the city begins this budget year "about $6 million in the hole." Melton also called upon council members to "show me the results" the unit has accomplished and then walked out before citizens spoke.

"I've got tons of e-mails from people from neighborhood associations across the city saying it's horrible that the mayor can come in and just disband a unit that has proven to be effective," said Bob Oertel, moderator of Precinct 4's COPS program. "They've been effective, and they've worked well for us."

Melton also announced last week that these duties would be absorbed by a new Quality of Life Task Force that would deal with many issues, not just crime, and work with agencies outside the city including the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, and the state Departments of Education, and Health & Human Services. It could be up and running in days, he said.

However, the task force idea was news to just about everyone—including those agencies, which had not been contacted about them. He had also not told city council about this new multi-agency plan.

On Thursday, Melton had harsh words for the city council members who had stayed to listen to the citizens earlier, saying they were "playing politics" and had allowed their "friends" to come there to criticize his and the chief's plan.

After the press conference, Anderson told the Jackson Free Press that the Council had demanded that she cut her budget somewhere, adding that the duties of the crime specialists are "redundant" with duties performed by other officers. She said the displaced employees could move to other jobs in the city.

Sims said Tuesday that she and the other seven specialists were not offered other positions, but were allowed to apply for jobs such as dispatcher. "This is not a guarantee that we'll get it, and even then these new positions are entry level, with a $600-a-month pay cut. ... I don't know how I'm supposed to support my children making that kind of money," said Sims, a single mother of three.

Correction: Sheri Jones' title was mistated above; it is crime prevention specialist. It has been edited in the above story.

Previous Comments

ID

64743

Comment

I agree with Meltonís decision to dissolve the unit, but I donít believe there is a need for a ìreplacementî unit. I hope Chief Anderson will finally be the chief that is capable of heading a competent, aggressive, respectable department. I also hope Mayor Melton aggressively follows through with exposing and alleviating incompetent, insubordinate, and fleecing city employees. For the record, the aforementioned isnít directed toward the former crime prevention unit.

Author

K RHODES

Date

2005-10-05T22:49:07-06:00

ID

64744

Comment

Why do you agree with the decision, K? What do you know that we don't know? Tell, tell. This was in the Clarion-Ledger: Melton has said the unit was ineffective and implied there were deeper personnel problems that other city officials won't discuss. This week, he's been building his replacement team, a Quality of Life Unit, that will have broader authority. The new all-volunteer unit will include professionals from the city, the state departments of Health, Human Services, Mental Health and the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, among other groups. "Our neighborhoods have been dealing with crime, decay and a number of issues that aren't strictly law enforcement," Melton said. "It's time for us to do something different." OK, I can agree with that last statement of Melton's. But what I'm unclear on is (1) what specifically is the plan? (2) How will volunteers have "broader authority? and (3) How we trust the city/chief/mayor to get this up and running and staffed (with volunteers?) quickly if they can't even hired a police spokesperson to get information directly to the public in a timely manner? I asked Asst. Chief Sandifer Thursday who is in charge of being the PD spokesperson, and he said, "Chief Anderson." Huh? I'm getting the feeling that they're replacing affordable Indians (so to speak) with expensive chiefs, and I'm not sure about the wisdom or efficiency of doing this. So far, based on the vague info the city has provided about this volunteer Quality of Life Task Force, it sounds like something that should exist alongside the precinct crime prevention specialists. If someone has information indicating otherwise, please share.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-10-05T23:00:37-06:00

ID

64745

Comment

I am not privy to any secret information. I just think the savings out weigh the efficiency of the unit.

Author

K RHODES

Date

2005-10-05T23:12:50-06:00

ID

64746

Comment

Just to alleviate some confusion. Crime prevention, the former JPD Crime Prevention Unit, and community policing are all separate things. Community policing is run by citizens volunteering and they can't be fired or reorganized. There are people from the city and police department that meet with us, but the whole point is that since it is run by volunteers, there is no authority posessed by the city. Community policing is about getting people to work together. Some fear that there will be an end to community policing in Jackson. I donít think that that will happen for a number of reasons. Anyway, I am beginning to feel like a real dork...A ninny. Like some goofy cheerleader with bad legs and a short skirt. Whatever...I am out of here. Going to the Arkansas Blues & Heritage Festival...

Author

bobnoxious

Date

2005-10-07T13:48:18-06:00

ID

64747

Comment

Actually, Bob, "community policing" as a policing theory is bigger than an effort "run by citizens volunteering and they can't be fired or reorganized." It is a style of policing different from traditional policing in that it is based on prevention and not just lock-em-up policies and scaring people out of becoming criminals (which doesn't work). Thus, if you start doing away with the liaisons between the police department and the citizen volunteers, the people who are paid to help the volunteers prevent crime, you are certainly chipping away at community policing. During the campaign, I'll be honest with you, I didn't get the feeling that Mr. Melton knew what community policing is.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-10-07T13:51:50-06:00

ID

64748

Comment

I don't want to quibble about the semantics of community policing here...My point is just that yes he can mame the efforts of community policing, but he can't kill it.

Author

bobnoxious

Date

2005-10-07T13:58:52-06:00

ID

64749

Comment

Fair enough, Bob. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea about community policing as an overall strategy. It can't just be done by the citizens, although we're an important part. This guy, for instance, has no idea what is entailed in community policing, or in "preventing" crime for that matter. A "show of force" in response to crime is not the way to "prevent" crime, but it is an old-west type of logic that can get in the way of preventing crime. Frankly, I worry that Mr. Melton thinks that this is all there is to "fighting" crime as well; that's what his actions seem to indicate: The job of the police officer is not in promoting ways to prevent crime! That's Chief Shirlene Anderson's job! The job of the officers is to prevent crime through a prominent show of force and getting to a crime scene as quickly as possible to handle the problem. The best way to create good will between the police and the citizens is to have a zero crime rate! Frank Melton knows, the best way to fight crime is not with desk jockeys and "good humor" people, but in a zero crime rate in Jackson. Frank will keep the best and fire the rest!

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-10-07T14:03:17-06:00

ID

64750

Comment

Also, the Ledge wrote an editorial about Melton's dismantling of the Crime Prevention Unit. This shows signs that they are getting more willing to criticize their man, even if they did pull punches at the end: Mayor Frank Melton is getting a fiery lesson in the difference between being a freewheeling corporate executive and being mayor of a city with an elected board over him. In the mayor/council form of government, when the executive takes action without the knowledge or approval of the board, he or she can expect fireworks. That's what is happening following Melton's sudden decision to dissolve the police department's Crime Prevention Unit. The unit was a key component to his predecessor's community policing crime-fighting program. The unit was to coordinate neighborhoods (the Council's power base). Melton may or may not be right about the unit's ineffectiveness, and his new "Quality of Life Division" could eventually be more effective. But Melton must remember that both he and the Council depend on the coin of public faith, requiring cooperation, not sudden, unexplained changes. [...] In the future, though, a little advance warning would probably be appreciated by both the public and the Council. _____ No, Ledge, it's not just "a little advance warning" that is needed, it is open, two-way discussions with the community about their wants and wishes. But you're getting there.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-10-07T14:06:12-06:00