Jackson, Miss., Mayor Faces 20 Years

Even a mandate can be revoked. That's perhaps the lesson — one of many — to be learned from Jackson, Mississippi, mayor Frank Melton.

Melton, elected mayor in 2005, was seen as a straight-talking, tough-on-crime candidate. The Flyer even ran a cover story that detailed Melton's penchant for donning police-issue bullet-resistant vests and joining police checkpoints. (He was once the head of the state's narcotics bureau.)

But a year later, Melton participated in a raid on a duplex that opened him up to a host of legal problems. A state jury found him innocent of burgulary and malicious mischief, but he is scheduled to appear in federal court January 5th.

USAToday has a longer story about Melton today:

"Justice Department prosecutors say Melton directed a band of men, some with criminal records, to attack the duplex with sledgehammers, tearing out its front wall.

Melton has never specifically said what he did that night. He has called the raid a 'procedural error' that, he said, is a matter for the civil courts.

Despite the mayor's insistence that the house was used to sell drugs, no drugs, cash or weapons were seized that night. The owner of the duplex has sued the city."

Jackson City Council president Leslie Burl McLemore was quoted as saying that "no one in the state of Mississippi, no one in the city of Jackson, had the mandate Frank Melton had, from rich and poor and black and white. That doesn't happen. That's the work of movies, of fiction. But he squandered it."

During the Leadership Academy's luncheon with Newark, New Jersey, mayor Corey Booker, much was made of Booker's ride-alongs with police. For Booker, it seems like it was more of a way of getting buy-in from the police department for his crime initiatives.

However, I think there is danger in putting more emphasis on the ride-along than it deserves. It got a lot of lip service at the Leadership Academy's young politicos forum, as well, and while I think it's great for elected officials to see first-hand what police are dealing with on the streets, Melton is a good example of how it can all go very wrong.

In a related but unrelated note, I happened to be in Jackson over the weekend and had dinner at the Mayflower Cafe. I would suggest it if you're in the area, but you might want to go to the bathroom before you get there. Especially if it's cold.

odds and ends

— Next week, NPR's Steve Inskeep will begin a new series on growing cities by visiting Karachi, Pakistan. To hear a preview about the series, "The Urban Frontier, click here.

— The Memphis Police Department is urging women to "be on alert" because of a series of home invasions/incidents of sexual battery in apartment complexes near Quince and Kirby, Macon and Sycamore View and Trinity and Germantown.
In several of the assaults, victims have opened the door because of a knock and then been forced inside at gunpoint. In at least four of the nine home invasions, victims have reported a sexual battery. One victim reported a rape.
The suspect is described as a black male, approximately 6 feet tall, and 170 lbs. He may drive a dark colored Chevrolet Cobalt.

— "Carbon chastity" and a call for nuclear energy, among other things.

— Stonehenge = very large headstones. Radiocarbon dates from human cremations in and around the stones indicate the site was used as a cemetery from 3000 BC until after the monuments were erected. Researchers estimate up to 240 people were buried there.

Fanfare for a Manhole

(To continue on a theme ... )

In recent years, local thieves have taken metal from wiring in abandoned buildings, air conditioners, grave sites (bronze urns), and catalytic converters to sell for scrap. Now, in Philadelphia and other places, you can add manhole covers to the list.

From Newsweek: "Three weeks ago 12-year-old Shamira Fingers from South Philadelphia was walking down a city street near her home when she suddenly fell into an open sewer hole."

The reason? Someone stole the manhole cover for scrap metal. Philadelphia has lost 600 in the last year, Chicago lost 200 in one month, 75 were taken from Greensboro, North Carolina, and the list goes on and on.

The story says thieves get about $10 to $20 a cover, and they cost municipalities about $500 to replace. In addition to the economic repercussions, there's also a safety issue, so Philadelphia has started locking down the manhole covers.

Closer to home, the Memphis City Council enacted an ordinance last December that requires scrap metal dealers to hold metal items for 10 days. Scrap metal dealers said they didn't know if scrap metal was obtained legally — the council's thought was that a 10-day waiting period would give police time to find metal that has been reported stolen. A state measure also requires metal sellers to provide a thumbprint and a legal ID.

But, really, in these type of cases, if someone is selling a manhole cover that says "MLGW" on it, it's probably a good bet it's not theirs.