Jackson Free Press

Updated with pdf of acting and appointed officer pay document.

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton announced today that the police department will again administer police officer promotion exams to officers currently serving in acting sergeant and lieutenant positions because the city has not offered the test in recent years. Melton, however, kicked the legs out from under any validation the test might bring, telling reporters that officers who flunk the exam would not necessarily be demoted to their lower certified positions.

"There are some people who are great testers, and there are some people who are very decent people who don't do very well on tests, so I still think at the end of the day, you're going to have to look at the human being, look at that person's passion … and competency outside the testing procedure," Melton said. "… I'm not going to base anything on someone sitting and taking a test."

The mayor said the police officer sergeant's examination will cost the city about $200,000, though he said the city would contract the work out to the lowest bidder, hopefully reducing that estimate. The costs would be paid for out of the city's confiscation fund, Melton said.

The city will likely implement the move to test previously appointed officers, which comes after police criticized him for promoting his uncertified bodyguards to positions of sergeant and assistant chief, by the end of the year.

Melton decided to promote his bodyguard Michael Recio to assistant chief and his other bodyguard, Marcus Wright, to sergeant over the department's protective services division, elevating two officers with only patrolman certification to these positions of authority.

Police accused the mayor of cronyism. The move infuriated members of the Jackson Police Officers Association, who argued that the promotions essentially skipped over more qualified individuals, breaking officer morale within the ranks.

Melton also addressed a Clarion-Ledger report that the city is devising a uniform compensatory time policy that might eliminate very high overtime costs in the fire and police departments.

The policy, which awards time off in lieu of money for earned overtime, would not apply to the police and fire departments, nor to the office of public works, the mayor said.

The fire and police departments are the two city departments suffering the most egregious overtime. The city spent almost $4 million in overtime on both departments in the last fiscal year.

Police Chief Shirlene Anderson was nor present or available for comment about the latest JPD policy decision by the mayor.

Semi-monthly pay of acting and appointed Sergeants and Lieutenants (PDF, 292 KB)

Previous Comments

ID

96392

Comment

Too little. Too late.

Author

Simpleton

Date

2007-10-18T13:26:33-06:00

ID

96393

Comment

I think there is a method to Melton's madness behind tests. Check this out! Who knew? ;-p

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-10-18T13:41:48-06:00

ID

96394

Comment

Why waste $200k on tests if the results don't matter? No wonder the city's broke...

Author

eyerah

Date

2007-10-18T14:28:30-06:00

ID

96395

Comment

Anyone interested in reading some choice excerpts from a 1999 "Bottom Line"? My question tonight is who is going to run the Jackson Police Department? The Department of Justice? The Mayor? The Police Chief? or The Union? After all these years I cannot believe that we have not developed a suitable way to promote officers. The test standards should be the same for everybody. Either you pass or you fail. In my opinion, making special provisions for any one group of officers is an insult and suggest that some people do not have the ability to pass the test. {snip} In my view the problem is with the testing procedures. The problem is with who gets promoted and who fails the test. Finally tonight friends, while we have some outstanding men and women on the Jackson Police Force, the problem has been and continues to be one of attitude, political interference from the Mayor's office, and a lack of a strategic plan. Who is going to run the Jackson Police Department? Shouldn't test and promotion standards be the same for everybody? AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS THE BOTTOM LINE. Frank, we hardly know ya...

Author

Rex

Date

2007-10-18T15:17:21-06:00

ID

96396

Comment

Rex, this is priceless! The sad thing is that frank is so far out in left field that he does not realize just how far off-base he is. Jackson can take responsibility for this major mess-up and I don't know what it would take to move beyond this point. 2MOREYEARS?

Author

justjess

Date

2007-10-18T15:35:07-06:00

ID

96397

Comment

Rex, that was great! i've only been in jxn for two years, so i didn't get a chance to watch any of those "bottom line" segments, but that says it all.

Author

eyerah

Date

2007-10-18T15:43:31-06:00

ID

96398

Comment

That is good, folks, but I'll warn you that the transcript WLBT posted does not match the audio of Melton in a couple of key places. I urge you to listen to it at that link rather than trust the transcript. Hopefully, WLBT will fix this error. It is interesting to see Modisett do that; he's been a pretty strong supporter of Melton, even as it was clear that he was failing as mayor. This is probably a pretty big sign that Melton support base is falling away. He needs to save himself more embarrassment and stop down. He is making a fool of himself, this city and Mississippi.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-18T15:59:10-06:00

ID

96399

Comment

Also, I have a large collection of Bottom Lines, and most of them are even more ridiculous than this one. At least this one, out of context of what Melton is doing as mayor, made sense on the surface. You ought to read/see some of the others. WLBT should do a public gallery and make it easy for viewers to search and watch all of them. Talk about a way to get traffic to their Web site!

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-18T16:00:38-06:00

ID

96400

Comment

More from WLBT's the Bottom Line. Behold the awe of the one magnificent Frank Melton: "To members of the Jackson police department, your chief is Bracy Coleman. Not some idiot from the mayor's office who likes to show up and interfere with your investigations. More... By the way, I am not hammering this guy because he is black. I am hammering him because he is an idiot who is about to get the city sued. And that my friends is the Bottom Line" Kinda says it all doesn't it? Ridiculous indeed ladd, ridiculous indeed... I now link you to his weeks editorial from the staff of the JFP. Enjoy!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-10-18T18:27:59-06:00

ID

96401

Comment

Anyone else notice that Reico's salary is not listed? Just thought that was interesting.

Author

ellis

Date

2007-10-18T22:43:52-06:00

ID

96402

Comment

This is a perfect example of why we ought to go back to the Mayor/Commission system that Jackson had until the late 70's. Under that form of municipal government, there was an ELECTED commissioner (separate from the mayor) in charge of the police and fire departments. The commissioners and mayor had to agree on policy, financial matters, etc. Since they were at-large positions they made decisions for the benefit of the entire city not competing over perks for their district. I may do a small study of the city's finances and crime rates immediately before and after the change over from commission to council.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-10-19T07:24:38-06:00

ID

96403

Comment

The Mayor/Commission Form of Government was being ruled out by the Courts. Mainly because it was felt that it was discriminatory to minorities. But, if I remember correctly, the Mayor always had Police and Fire. Regardless of form, I believe the Mayor usually has oversight of Police and Fire. If you are one of the ones that talks about the "Contentious City Council", you should have seen it then! I am one who is grateful we have a Council that is not in lock-step with the Administration and remains independent in their votes. Of course, three of the seven seem to not be independent but in "lock-step" with the Mayor.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-10-19T08:44:52-06:00

ID

96404

Comment

Regardless of the form of Government, we must still elect people who are capable and who are committed to following the letter of the law. Jackson, nor any other city will prosper as long as we have people in positions of power who are willing to do anything at anytime and with anyone for self-serving and personal gain. frank melton has gone TOO FAR, TOO FAST and with TOO LITTLE. He continues to be that person who doesn't listen to anyone.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-10-19T09:08:18-06:00

ID

96405

Comment

What about a professional hired City Manager with an elected Council?

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-10-19T09:29:24-06:00

ID

96406

Comment

What about a professional hired City Manager with an elected Council? What about electing a better mayor next time instead?

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-10-19T12:17:24-06:00

ID

96407

Comment

I would agree, but there has not been a GOOD mayor in many years, if ever. There have been BETTER ones, but not outstanding.

Author

Willezurmacht

Date

2007-10-19T16:56:40-06:00

ID

96408

Comment

Did anyone see the re-airing of "The Bottom Line" where Melton rips "croonyism" and states the only way to be fair in our police force is through exams. HYSTERICAL

Author

AGamm627

Date

2007-10-22T15:18:51-06:00

ID

96409

Comment

Did anyone see this report on WLBT. No wonder Jackson can't hire any new police officers.

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-10-29T06:03:48-06:00

ID

96410

Comment

I hate to say this but, oh well. I'm becoming so jaded by this entire affair and it seems like nothing will happen with out divine intervention (where is JA Eaves when you need a prayer?).

Author

Simpleton

Date

2007-10-29T08:26:54-06:00

ID

96411

Comment

Cliff, we have a copy of that report with names of officers and date redacted. We got it last Wednesday, I think, but it wasn't authenticated enough to publish. But I guess it is now. ;-) We'll PDF.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-29T09:16:04-06:00

ID

96412

Comment

Did anyone see this report on WLBT. No wonder Jackson can't hire any new police officers. *Shakes my head in disgust* I remember all those Bottom Line commentaries where he pretended to be such a friend to police officers. Now, he has almost complete disdain for them.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-29T09:58:22-06:00

ID

96413

Comment

A wise man once said "the problem with being full of ____ as a leader, is you can't remember half the ____ you unloaded earlier." Frank is yet to learn this!

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-29T10:00:11-06:00

ID

96414

Comment

Cool donna. I'd like to see that. As I understand it, the officer is a good guy and was "Officer Of The Month" for his Precinct right before this happened. The stupid thing is, little frankie is blaming Robert Johnson for all the police department's present day woes.

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-10-29T11:03:16-06:00