Jackson Free Press

After the Jackson Free Press broke news about an April 17 ComStat report last Tuesday, May 9, Police Chief Shirlene Anderson and Mayor Frank Melton went into damage-control mode.

They personally invited media to a ComStat meeting—which they had previously kept off limits—and talked to reporters in the Standard Life Building. The previous chief, Robert Moore, had held weekly press briefings on the 17th floor there; this chief seldom meets with press.

While admitting that crime has, in fact, increased, the mayor and chief both shared unsubstantiated innuendo that pre-Melton crime statistics may have been cooked by the previous administration—thus implying that maybe crime isn't as much higher as the report indicates.

The report, provided to the JFP by a city official, revealed that city crime figures were up about 16 percent over the same period in 2005, when Harvey Johnson Jr. was mayor.

The news of rising crime is a nasty black eye for Melton, who campaigned for mayor on a pledge to eliminate crime within 90 days.

While responding to questions regarding the higher figures, Anderson made a point to say that the new figures are accurate.

"We're not trying to hide anything as far as stats," Anderson said. "I'll be the first to say, hey, crime is up. But I want to let you know one thing for certain: Every report on anything that happens is reported as it's classified as. If it's an auto theft, it's an auto theft. If it gets sent back from prosecution telling us to reduce it to a trespassing and a misdemeanor, we have no control over that. So we don't re-classify something to make the numbers go down."

Anderson also said that crime stats were increasing because police officers were making more arrests. "We are out there making arrests, so those numbers are going to go up. If you're not making arrests, the numbers don't go up, so that means a whole lot of things can make the numbers go up. So we're letting the numbers go up because we're going to make arrests," she said.

However, Anderson's comment left reporters shaking their heads—ComStat reports record crime whether an arrest is made or not, and higher arrests would not affect the ComStat numbers.

Reporters kept coming back to Anderson's implication that the previous administration may have distorted crime figures, a charge that Melton supporters—and Melton himself—made repeatedly, both during the mayoral campaign and in response to the new stats.

However, there is a difference between ComStat numbers and the official crime stats that eventually go to the FBI. And ComStat numbers are much harder to manipulate.

Former JPD Chief Robert Moore, who resigned shortly after Melton's election, was adamant that it is impossible to tamper with ComStat numbers because of how they are collected.

"ComStat figures are based on the description that callers give to the 911 answering service at the initiation of a crime report. They might be inaccurate if the caller was inaccurate, but they are not susceptible to tampering," Moore said.

"You pick the phone up and call 911 and tell the person answering that phone what happened, and those are the numbers that we count. We don't count any other numbers. ComStat numbers are the raw, initial numbers that come in on a 911 call. They are exactly what is reported to us by the caller."

"You don't mess with statistics that you send to the federal government," Moore said in denying that his department had ever falsified crime reports. "You don't do that. You're putting your agency status in jeopardy when you falsely record information."

Melton himself asserted several times after his election that the stats had been tampered with and promised more accurate crime stats during his 2005 campaign. However, he never provided evidence of such tampering.

Anderson would not substantiate the claim that earlier statistics had been cooked.

"I wasn't here, so I'm not making any kind of implications. All I want is for the statistics to be reported as what they are, not to be changed or re-classified. … Yes, we've been informed that the stats were played with back a year or so ago, but I'm not going to say anything because now we're here, and I just want things to be truthfully (sic) and honest, but I'm not accusing anyone of anything."

Anderson refused continued questions from reporters, even blurting out a short-lived retraction.

"Hey, I'm not saying anybody informed me," Anderson replied after a reporter asked her who had informed her stats were "played with."

"But you just said 'I've been informed that the stats were played with,'" the reporter insisted.

"I'm not going to give anybody names. It's not any use to you," Anderson replied.

In the hall later, she said that a reporter had initially made the allegation, and then said that "individuals here at the police department" had made those allegations. She did not plan, she said, to investigate the claims to determine whether they are true. "I'm not going to waste time sitting here judging what took place in the last administration; I can only be held accountable for what happened now," she said.

Jackie Smith, executive director of political non-profit SafeCity Watch, which Melton plans to have "audit the books" of the city's crime reports, said she did not have enough information to determine if the previous administration was fixing numbers.

No police officer has come forward with information regarding crime stat tampering in the last administration, despite the fact that the Melton administration would likely welcome the news as justification for crime increases.

When asked by the JFP last week if he could provide evidence that the ComStat numbers were "cooked" by the previous administration, Melton said he would provide a source. However, he had not provided that source by press time.

Previous Comments

ID

66297

Comment

I guess that the source that he will provide will also vouch for Melton's comment that he received a weapons permit 35 years ago in Texas. It's so easy for him to put his foot in his mouth. He lied about the ninety day crime reduction just as he has lied about everything else. No wonder he roams the streets all night. His lies are keeping him awake.

Author

lance

Date

2006-05-17T16:45:42-06:00

ID

66298

Comment

I see why the chief has been quiet. It's probably a good idea for her to return to silence. "It is far better that they think it than to know it."

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2006-05-18T13:32:53-06:00

ID

66299

Comment

Having lived out of the state for the last 8 years, I haven't personally paid any real attention to exactly how (or when for that matter) COMSTAT was implicated in Jackson. In addition, I would be willing to bet that that is the case with most people actually living in Jackson. I think a story that could do a lot of good for the city would be one in which the origins, implementation details, effectiveness, etc. of the COMSTAT system are detailed. You know, things like when was COMSTAT implemented in Jackson? Does the city use software or manual tracking to keep track of the statistics? Where are those statistics harvested from?** Have any of these things changed in the new administration? This is the kind of information that the citizens need to know in order to help them develop an informed position concerning crime in the city. **This particular question steams from the following quotes of Chief Moore: “ComStat figures are based on the description that callers give to the 911 answering service at the initiation of a crime report. They might be inaccurate if the caller was inaccurate, but they are not susceptible to tampering,” Moore said. “You pick the phone up and call 911 and tell the person answering that phone what happened, and those are the numbers that we count. We don’t count any other numbers. ComStat numbers are the raw, initial numbers that come in on a 911 call. They are exactly what is reported to us by the caller.” Are these only crime stats that are included in COMSTAT figures? Certainly, not all crimes are reported via 911. Some are reported via non-emergency lines. Some are reported directly to officers on the street. What of these? COMSTAT is a complete system for how to both react to and prevent crime, but all I ever hear about COMSTAT in Jackson is the statistics. There is much more to it than that and I, for one, want to know about it. I am sure others do as well.

Author

Liberty Dog

Date

2006-05-18T15:11:17-06:00

ID

66300

Comment

I agree with you, Dog. More questions are raised by all this. We're not done. This is just a short news piece about the reaction to our ComStat revelations.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-05-18T15:16:30-06:00

ID

66301

Comment

With a nod to Ray Carter: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we try to deceive.." Seems our fair Chief is picking up her boss' habit of deceit and obfuscation. Or maybe she just doesn't know or understand about the nature of crime statistics, never having had any experience in municipal policing. Just imagine, if you don't have a clue why and where crime has increased, it is unlikely that you can develop an effective strategy to combat it. She seems satisfied with the Melton method of "crime fighting", under which she can expect further increases.

Author

tomac

Date

2006-05-18T16:19:54-06:00

ID

66302

Comment

Wouldn't the Comstat numbers be more inaccurate if they're based off 911 reports then? Then the DA's office calling over and saying what whomever is being charged with would be the more "real" crime. I think we all need a flowchat, bad. :)

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-05-18T20:00:42-06:00

ID

66303

Comment

Quite frankly, I think we are all misusing the term "ComStats". There are various forms of statistics to track crime. Personally, I prefer the police reports of where and when and what type of crime was committed, precinct by precinct, and published weekly. There was no confusion about it, only allegations that crimes committed were being changed to lesser offenses. The word 'ComStats' as used by the current Chief and now by the Press is merely crime statistics. I agree with the idea of educating some of the public (impossible to educate all of the public) regarding how these combined tracking methods, called ComStat, are handled and how it is a valuable tool in fighting crime. When New Orleans departed from the recommended method of tracking, crime increased. Likewise in Jackson.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2006-05-22T10:35:16-06:00

ID

66304

Comment

I agree with Ray Carter, Shereline Anderson needs to return to a position of silence. This sounds like some of that MBN stuff, i.e., spreading negative information about people without proof. She will be the person to bear the blame in a slander lawsuit. She seems like a nice person who has gone too far, too fast with too little and without the ability to assess her own liability. WHERE IS FRANK MELTON ???????????????????????????????????

Author

justjess

Date

2006-05-22T14:12:59-06:00