Jackson Free Press

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Jackson Police Chief Rebecca Coleman asked police officers to pay close attention to Fuelman transactions so the city can make an accurate assessment of fuel costs during this morning's COMSTAT meeting.

Fuelman is a third-party account through which city employees re-fuel city vehicles for municipal business. A 2009 city audit discovered about 9,000 errors in Fuelman-card transactions between July and October 2008.

"The problem that we are having is that officers might put down the wrong mileage, they might use the card that is a supervisors'," Coleman said. "A supervisor might use his card to fill up another car instead of using a miscellaneous card."

This year, Coleman said she is stepping up efforts to reduce fuel costs and improve accuracy. She said the department is currently meeting its budget for fuel but asked officers to reduce any unnecessary fuel usage.

"We are serious about Fuelman," Coleman told officers. "This is something that has not gone away."

For the city's weekly crime totals, auto burglaries increased 19.6 percent from last week from 51 to 61, up from 31 this time last year.

"The ugly two-headed monster of auto burglaries is rearing its ugly head again," Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance said during the meeting.

Vance requested that precinct commanders increase the number of officers patrolling neighborhoods and streets. Officers also reported that they apprehended Jeffery Turner, a suspect who is believed to have committed several auto crimes in Fondren.

Overall, the department reported 233 major crimes citywide, up from 224 this time last year. Property crimes are up 210 from 196 last week and 185 last year. Violent crimes decreased from 25 to 23 for the week, and were down from 39 last year, a 41 percent drop.