Jackson Jambalaya

A Mr. Eric Hamer of Ridgeland wrote this letter to the editor in yesterday's Clarion-Ledger:
"Clarion-Ledger' partly to blame for JPD low morale
It is no wonder the Jackson Police Department's morale is low and going lower.
While there are many causes for it, one surely is this newspaper. All year, I have read about Jackson's crime rates climbing with no positive news in sight.
Now, in an article published on Oct. 17 ("Woman decries 911 response"), this paper raps JPD for falling arrest rates. Of course, in the same article, and for the first time all year, this paper slinks in the fact that most major crimes have seen a dramatic decrease from this time last year.
It seems to me that arrests would naturally fall when crime rates fall, but rather than paint this as a positive for the JPD, this paper works its magic and makes it a negative.
How about a piece (or maybe even a series) from you on the hundreds of dedicated officers who lay their lives on the line every day and actually helped to make significant reductions in crime this year? Wait, I must still be dreaming. I better go get another cup of coffee.
All sarcasm aside, as a downtown Jackson business owner, I really would like to see you take the initiative on this one.
Eric Hamer
Ridgeland"
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/OPINION02/710310326/1009

Who is Mr. Eric Hamer? Would he be the same Mr. Hamer of the law firm Danks, Miller, Hamer, & Cory that is listed in the yellow pages on S. Lamar Street in downtown Jackson? The yellow pages state: "AKA Ray Eric Atty, Ray Eric, Hamer Eric Atty, Hamer Eric, Danks Dale JR Atty"

Everyone is aware of the professional relationship between Mr. Hamer's firm and Mayor Melton as one of its partners, Dale Danks, has represented Mayor Melton for some time in his ongoing legal problems. It is rather misleading of Mr. Hamer (and as a lawyer he knows this very well) to write such a letter as a concerned citizen while hiding the fact that his firm is one of Melton's hired mouthpieces.

However Mr. Hamer, lets discuss your letter on the merits. It is your firm's client who has ruined the JPD. Morale is low for several reasons. Mr. Melton has allowed the number of police officer to drop to barely 400 officers. He micromanages the police. He has no formal or current law enforcement training. Where are his certifications? How old are they, if they do exist? He criticizes his own cops to the media (If you knew anything about leadership, and as a lawyer it is doubtful you do, you would know that one of the quickest ways to hurt morale is to slam your employees to the public).

Melton appoints severely unqualified people to run the police department. The current chief and newly appointed assistant chief have no experience whatsoever in their jobs. They were not appointed assistant chiefs or chiefs in Jackson or other jurisdictions. While Jackson crime has skyrocketed, the JPD has been their intern program.

Your firm's client runs the JPD, not the chief. Officers continue to leave. It is your firm's client that who tries to protect thugs like Michael Taylor while smearing his victim as adrug user when such has not been proven (I'm sure the DWF officer would have made an arrest for someone on a drug deal gone bad). It is your client who says he will fire veteran officers and replace them with recruits during the current crime epidemic. It is your firm's client who ties up police resources with his stupid pool parties and other so-called youth programs. Under your client's leadership, 20% of JPD are not even qualified with their firearms according to the newspaper. It is your firm's client that tried to overrule the Chief when she actually tried to discipline some officers who beat a suspect that was handcuffed and let them off the hook.

Your firm's client has made a mess of the city budget, depriving JPD of much-needed funds to hire personnel. It is Melton, not the newspaper, who fought releasing crime statistics and has blamed (without showing any proof) the crime statistics on Harvey Johnson, saying his administration lied about them. It is your client who attacked Sheriff McMillin in the media and tried to replace him with one of his lackeys while bringing into JPD people such as disgraced former chief Bracey Coleman who just happens to be the father-in-law of newly appointed Assistant Chief Michael Recio.

So for you to blame the newspaper for the morale in JPD is rather disingenuous to say the least as it is not the newspaper that caused these problems and it is not the newspaper that caused morale at JPD to suffer. It is not the newspaper that has engaged in blatant cronyism at the JPD, ignored promotion rules, allowed the number of cops to drop to dangerous levels, thus encouraging more overworked police officers to leave JPD. It is not the newspaper that created the conditions for police officers where it is clear to them they are going to be micromanaged, treated unfairly, and have no legitimate, fair chance at promotion. Any management guru would tell you that is a great recipe for hurting morale.

No one at The Clarion-Ledger has questioned the dedication of hundred os hard working Jackson police officers. It has reported on its success such as the arrest of the robbers who held up people in the I-55 corridor. However, maybe the reason it is reporting bad news about JPD is that well, there IS bad news about JPD. I realize you wish that all these crime victims who had complaints about JPD would go away but unfortunately, they do have a story to tell as well.

As for the so-called drop in crime, I'll spell it out for you. The crime rate has skyrocketed under Melton's leadership. If you compare it to recent months, it has dropped a little. If you compare it to the beginning of his administration, it is unacceptably high. No one on the street would agree with your conclusions that crime has improved. However, since you live in Ridgeland, that doesn't apply to you. If your house is flooded by 20 feet of water, just because it drops to 18 feet of water doesn't mean it is any better, especially when the flood was caused in large part by one individual whose negligence and incompetence caused the dam to break, resulting in the flood.
Being Melton's mouthpiece is one thing, hiding that fact while acting as a concerned "downtown business owner" is something else.

Welcome to the internet, Mr. Hamer. The days of writing misleading letters to the editor without scrutiny are gone along with pagers, cellphones in a bag, and pinning your girlfriend.