CL Letters to the Editor re: election from 4/20/5
Crime ‘stockholders’ should vote
Judging by recent letters, there are many folks who will take umbrage to my writing about issues involving Jackson because of my choice to “flee” the city. I work in Jackson, most of my family lives in Jackson and I still shop in Jackson.
That said, I am curious about Police Chief Robert Moore’s continued parading of statistics (“Chief: Felonies down 7% in Jackson,” April 14) to seemingly “prove” his job is being done properly. It’s like we’re getting a quarterly report from upper management telling us that “things are OK, so just go about your business.”
Don’t get me wrong – a 7 percent drop in felonious crimes is a good thing, indeed. But where are the headlines showing the categories of crime that have dropped less, stayed the same, or increased?
Granted, there is one sentence in the article that gives the increase in rapes, but it is immediately followed by one of Chief Moore’s own detectives seemingly scoffing at that statistic as an error in judgment, or mere semantics. And this detective works in the sex crimes division. Hmmmm…
So, if we use the chief’s own yardstick, cop killings have increased 100 percent in the last year.
I agree with mayoral candidate Frank Melton completely that the policemen and policewomen out on the street, the “uniforms,” are not the problem with crime in the city.
So it might be a time for the citizens of Jackson, the “stockholders” as it were, to start trying to change upper management.
And perhaps someone should look at some of the “middle management” on Pascagoula Street as well – the people who are paid to detect, not to gloss over stats for the boss in order to “hit the numbers!”
Thom Eason
Brandon
Support Melton, a ‘public servant’
With reference to Eric Stringfellow’s column on Jackson mayoral candidate Frank Melton (“Why back candidate who does not vote?,” April 10), the answer is simple: Back a candidate who is about public service.
For nearly two decades, Frank Melton has been an advocate for youth, a voice against violence, and a force against illicit drugs in the Jackson area.
A former governor gave Mr. Melton an opportunity to do public service statewide. When Mr. Melton’s appointment ended, he returned to private life, but remained an advocate for the causes he has championed over the years.
As mayor of Jackson, Mr. Melton could be a far more effective public servant than as a private citizen. Thus, a more insightful question would be: Why not back a public servant instead of a politician for public office?
Henry Brown
Liberty
