Jackson Free Press

The Hill, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., reported Wednesday that Capitol police are tightening security requirement after Mayor Frank Melton showed up in Bennie Thompson's office wearing credentials clearing him to carry firearms:

In the wake of the incident in Thompson's office, the Capitol Police has adopted new procedures for vetting visiting law enforcement officers. Police now will require them to display their weapons when the LE credentials are issued and to show their local agency credentials and badge in addition to the LE credential at security checkpoints. They will also be required to return the LE credential after their visit is over. (Melton had displayed the badge on local television shortly after the meeting.)

Livingood said he hoped the new procedures would have "the ultimate goal of strengthening USCP policies."

Livingood reported that Capitol Police Chief Terrence Gainer had told the mayor after the incident that "under no circumstance could he be in possession of a firearm if he was not a certified, trained, current duty ... officer."

Thompson was encouraged that House officials had responded to the situation with Melton, Avant said.

"The congressman is confident that Livingood and his entire operation are taking the necessary steps to prevent a future incident so members and their staffs can come to work and feel like they are in a secure environment," he said.

The key concern, he said, is that it doesn't happen again.

"There'll be future trips where the mayor will come back to D.C. If any of these events were to repeat, that would raise serious questions."

Previous Comments

ID

123167

Comment

The Clarion-Ledger's story today following this one does not mention The Hill story that was being e-mailed all over Jackson yesterday.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-09-07T14:36:32-06:00

ID

123168

Comment

it's a sad situation indeed. that photo on the front page, the pretending to be a police person. which does injustice to every actual real police officer, ahem. who maybe knows what they are doing and doesn't try to get into the US Capitol ! pretending. it does disservice to everyone who makes an effort to maybe try to keep t he peace. if possible. faking being a police person. that, well, are those badges just lying around somewhere? it's an f'ing embarassment for the city of Jackson, to have this on the national news. FBI is investigating. Former mayor, please return. We made a mistake. (I don't live in Jackson, so I can say these things, and hope no one comes find me and ..whatever.) Some thought this mayor might make a difference, well, he did. The wrong way. I would love to see Jackson prosper and be well and have a city government that knows what they are doing, not with a frontier mentality. There are good artists , smart people, hard workers . Take care , make it a good place. I want to come visit more often. Only place to find whole foods, good movies. peace . and, I know Bob Dylan is big now, but Joan Baez always. hehe.

Author

sunshine

Date

2006-09-07T16:41:14-06:00

ID

123169

Comment

well, this thread could be just melded into the 'tear someone's house down for no good reason' one. it all fits the mindset, and it doesn't look good. it's sort of scary, frankly. how to handle drug dealers, etc. - guns don't work. they have them. this is not the wild west. can we get some mediators in here? someone with sense? meanwhile, Farsish St. , who's gonna tear down that old mill that the city is not looking at? I'd say, of course what do I know, everyone just show up at city meetings and give them hell. If there are city meetings. If you can get in. Of course, I should do it here in Vicksburg, but it's peanuts here. Jackson in the hub, it's the heart of the state. It deserves better.

Author

sunshine

Date

2006-09-07T17:25:07-06:00

ID

123170

Comment

Reaction from me: Oh my sweet Lord, you gotta be kidding me. Where will it all end?

Author

Tim Kynerd

Date

2006-09-07T18:05:34-06:00