Jackson Free Press

A former city police chief said he fears Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin may be taking on an impossible burden in adopting the role of Jackson police chief while retaining his position of sheriff. "McMillin is a good friend, a pretty good administrator, one heck of a cop, first rate politician and a brilliant PR person. He offers 'comfort' and a sense of stability in the turbulent, roiled up waters that is the wake of Melton's march through the Jackson Police Department. That said, he cannot do both jobs effectively," former Jackson Police Chief Robert Johnson said.

Johnson pointed out that McMillin "already faces longstanding and seemingly intractable problems within his own department," including jail overcrowding and a sub-standard holding facility. McMillin himself is vocal about the sub-standard jail. Former inmate Michael Burnley, who was paralysed from the chest down by another inmate who had jimmied one of the jail's faulty locks, is suing the county in a $10 million claim that specifically names McMillin as a defendant.

McMillin's county position is rife with other problems, many arising from a shortage in funding. Some county patrol cars have blown engines or vehicles that are 200,000 miles overdue for the recycling yard. The county also suffers from staffing shortages thanks to hiring and retention problems, often linked to poor pay.

Johnson said the city of Jackson comes with its own laundry list of problems, however, all of which "requires the undivided attention, energy, commitment and an all out effort by a chief who is not already facing a full plate."

Should the council confirm McMillin, he will have to deal with faltering morale, insufficient funding, expensive overtime, a rash of controversial police shootings and accusations by residents of sloppy policing, a woefully insufficient staff and schedule holes. He'll also be facing a combative police union riled by Melton's promotion of his two bodyguards, Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, to assistant chief and sergeant, and the distinct lack of any crime plan for dealing with the city's crime rate, which has been rising steadily since Melton took office in 2005.

County Supervisor Doug Anderson said he was suspicious of McMillin's ability to juggle the two full-time positions.

"Until I see it work, I will have questions about it because both jobs are 24-hour jobs, and there are not 48 hours in a day, the last time I counted," Anderson said in an interview. Anderson, who supported Melton during his campaign, said the mayor had not spoken to him since his decision to appoint McMillin as chief.

"I found out about (McMillin's appointment) on Thursday, before they announced it, but I would have thought that Melton would have consulted with me, since he and I are friends, and we've been working together on various projects for the city and county," Anderson said. "This cloak of secrecy implies a lot of things, that something is not quite kosher."

McMillin said that running the department is a matter of delegation.

"(Police) chiefs in some major cities have a bigger staff than the city of Jackson and Hinds County combined, and they do just fine," McMillin said. "It's a matter of picking good help, and keeping a steady hand on the process."

Jackson council members are dizzy at the rate of the help already getting picked. On Nov. 19, McMillin named Cmdr. Lee Vance as assistant chief. This appointment, mingled with 36-hour interim chief Lt. Gerald Jones' decision to sign off on other promotions, including Recio and Wright—and the $46,000 in raises the promotions entail—triggered alarm with some council members. The council had not confirmed either Jones' or McMillin's appointments before both began authorizing shake-ups.

"We're in an unprecedented arrangement here," Barrett-Simon said. "It appears there is a period of time here where decisions are being made without the confirmation of the council. … I've talked to officers who have already been given directions from someone who hasn't been confirmed by the council."

Double-loading the police department and the sheriff's office will take more than just delegation, according to Johnson, who refuses to see the double role as just an increase in the number of personnel.

"You're not just talking about staying in control in terms of the number of personnel being supervised. You're talking about two complex organizations, irrespective of the size, because of the number of legislative bodies that you have in them. Delegation would be a possibility if the situation allowed it, but it will take a lot of time and effort and some real hands on work to handle the police department," Johnson said in an interview. "It means interacting with every person in that organization at some level, so that they can become familiar with your personal philosophy, with the direction that you want to provide them, without that being filtered through some subordinate."

Council President Leslie McLemore predicted McMillin's dual role as the herald of some consolidation of city and county government.

"You can't serve in two capacities like that and not have a co-mingling of responsibilities and monies and everything else. That is the part that has to be worked out, but it has not been addressed," McLemore said, adding that McMillin had yet to contact him since his appointment and that the Melton administration had not submitted any paperwork to the council regarding the new chief's pay package.

McMillin denies that he will engage in any form of consolidation between the governments, though he will certainly feel a unique pressure as a double agent. Anderson told the JFP that he would like McMillin to be an advocate for some county interests while serving the city.

"I feel that since he is now the sheriff, and the chief of police, maybe he can help us with the expense as it relates to the regional jail. He could be an advocate for us, if he would be," Anderson said.

The city currently pays $1.3 million to the county to house its juvenile inmates, but Anderson said he would like for the city to pay $20 per adult prisoner, per day—a request the city is currently ignoring.

Previous Comments

ID

68183

Comment

Lady Ladd, Everyone is making valid points complete with cautious skepticim, and feeings of unease. Everyone is raising valid questions regarding the possibility of the consolidation of city/county reources and responsibilities. Everyone appears to be willing to have a conversation, and a public debate about the "issues" that have suddenly come to the urface as the result of the creation of Chief Sheriff McMillian. The Chinese have so artfully institutionalized this situation in their symbols for danger and opportunity. They are not two sides of the same coin..they are one and the same. I like this new atmosphere of inevitable and unrelenting change in Jackson/Hinds.

Author

FrankMickens

Date

2007-11-28T15:33:06-06:00

ID

68184

Comment

The mayor has had a duel role since he took office, Mayor and Chief and he survived. He survived enough to still run around with a sledge hammer, curse the city council out every week and lie to all the citizens of Jackson. Of course Chief-Sheriff Mac can handle it.

Author

classy

Date

2007-11-28T20:54:01-06:00