Jackson Free Press

Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin says he has limited overtime to special-event staffing only.

"When you run out of money in your checking account, you can't keep writing checks. That's the way it is here." McMillin told the Jackson Free Press. "We've overspent overtime prior to my appointment, and what I'm having to do is catch up on past overspending when it comes to overtime. I can't say why it was overspent. All I can say is it was overspent."

McMillin said the police department managed to already surpass its overtime budget, having spent about $450,000 on overtime during this fiscal year, which only started in October.

"For all we know, it may prove to be more than that," McMillin added. "All the overtime isn't in yet."

Overtime hours frequently supplement staff shortages in the department. JPD currently has about 400 active officers, with about 40 new recruits entering a training class Dec. 28. A study of the police department, released by the Maple/Linder Group in 1999, called for increasing the number of police officers to 680 nearly nine years ago.

McMillin, while not prepared to estimate the number of officers needed to efficiently run the city, admitted there was a shortage, adding that there would be no way to counter the schedule holes in the absence of overtime.

"There's no way to fill the holes in staffing with overtime anymore. You're dependent upon that overtime that's allocated, and when that allocation is over, then you have to stop," McMillin said.

Mayor Frank Melton said the freeze on overtime will have no impact upon the salary of his bodyguard, Michael Recio, however. Melton appointed Recio—a 15-year JPD patrol officer who has never passed a sergeant's promotional exam—to assistant chief earlier this year. The promotion incited fury among the ranks and within the local police union, who hailed the appointment as abject cronyism.

Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Breland Hilburn, who also chairs the Civil Service Commission, said in October that the Recio appointment circumvented protocol. "The Civil Service Commission is going to make it very aware to management of the city of Jackson that the failure to recognize the protocol and rules of Civil Service no longer will be tolerated," Hilburn told The Clarion-Ledger.

The council fought Recio's $70,000 assistant chief's salary, and even though Recio moved back into the mayor's office as a personal bodyguard last month, Melton continues to lobby for Recio's assistant chief pay for the weeks he served in his appointed position.

The council disagrees, lopping Recio's assistant chief check at last Tuesday's regular council meeting, with Ward 6 Councilman Marshand Crisler entering a motion to reduce Recio's salary from $70,289 to the $41,761.20 he was paid as the mayor's bodyguard. The council voted 4-to-3 in support of the motion.

"As a council member, I cannot afford to put myself in any kind of financial jeopardy," Crisler said. "The decision had to be made that this man cannot serve as an assistant chief because he hasn't even been tested for any lower position such as sergeant or lieutenant. There is an unofficial rendering of opinion by (the Civil Service Commission) stating that should not happen, so I made the motion to return him to his original pay, because he is not serving as chief."

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, who voted in favor of the pay cut, said she was trying to make sure the council is not misspending money, and in compliance with Civil Service regulations. She said she was also concerned about Marcus Wright, another mayoral bodyguard that Melton promoted to sergeant at the time of Recio's promotion.

"Wright has barely gotten his five years in, and they haven't given the sergeant's exam in two years, so there are guys who would've been ahead of him that did take the sergeant's exam," Barrett-Simon warned. "I think the Civil Service Commission could take issue with us on that as well."

Melton criticized the council's budget decision, claiming Recio will now collect more than $70,000 in overtime as an hourly paid bodyguard and truancy officer.

McMillin said Recio is paid from the police department's budget, but said he would not openly contest the issue.

"As chief executive of the city, he says he requires security, and security was assigned to him. The mayor keeps his time, and I'm not going to get into a debate about whether or not the mayor has the authority to pay overtime to bodyguards who work for him," McMillin said, adding that he preferred Melton's bodyguards be paid out of the mayor's office, since every other officer in the city no longer qualifies for overtime.

"I have cut overtime for the entire police department. I would think that (Recio) getting overtime would probably have an impact on morale," McMillin said.

Crisler said Melton was welcome to put Recio's overtime before the council.

"If the mayor wants to give (Recio) some ungodly amount of overtime right now, he's welcome to try, and we'll see if the council will authorize those payments," Crisler said. "The mayor has three bodyguards, and between them, none of them should have overtime. They should be working shifts at this point. Frank might try to say that Recio is also a truancy officer, but if that's his position then school is from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so how can a truancy officer get overtime?"

Previous Comments

ID

68234

Comment

“If the mayor wants to give (Recio) some ungodly amount of overtime right now, he’s welcome to try, and we’ll see if the council will authorize those payments,” Crisler said. “The mayor has three bodyguards, and between them, none of them should have overtime. They should be working shifts at this point. Frank might try to say that Recio is also a truancy officer, but if that’s his position then school is from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., so how can a truancy officer get overtime?” Chuckle.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-12-26T20:21:58-06:00

ID

68235

Comment

Well, I know for sure the only work the bodyguards had been doing after hours was sitting at Frank's house hosting parties, traveling out of town on lavish vacations and driving him around to harass people. The mayor doesn't perform many mayoral duties , so how can he justify needing 3 bodyguards. And let's not forget the bodyguard he assigned to Robert Shuler Smith. Where is the audit ?????????????????? I think it will solve a lot of Jackson's problems.

Author

classy

Date

2007-12-27T13:43:00-06:00