MELTON'S WAY

Narcotics Chief Should Be Open

Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Director Frank Melton is conducting a very
high-profile series of narcotics raids in Jackson, which everyone can
cheer. The public likes to hear a law enforcement official talk tough and
take action.

Unfortunately, every once in a while, Melton seems to decide to play
Lone Ranger when it comes to enforcing the law.

The former WLBT-Channel 3 TV executive did it shortly after being
picked to head MBN in December, when he started putting up road blocks
- - including at the Capitol - to catch drug dealers.

And when he used a helicopter and SWAT tactics to converge on some
local schools, and when he began deciding who he would charge with an
offense in an arrest and who he would not.

Supporters, and there are many, since he's an articulate spokesman for
being "tough on crime," say "It's just Frank being Frank." And there
is latitude in the law for discretion in making arrests or deciding
how to nab wrongdoers.

But, sometimes, Melton's bending or otherwise making malleable the
laws he is supposed to be enforcing have ironclad boundaries not to be
broached without seriously jeopardizing the foundations of the law.

That's when Melton's cowboy ways must be reined in.

So it is now with Melton's refusal to reveal who MBN is arresting. Said
Melton after a recent raid in Jackson: "As a matter of MBN policy, I don't
reveal the names of violators so that I can protect the dignity of their
children."

On the surface, that sounds nice. But making arrests public has
nothing to do with dignity, which presumably has been damaged by
living in a drug manufacturing and selling environment, but with
informing the public.

If the state, in the form of Melton or any officer, has free rein to
arrest and hold people without revealing it, not only does the suspect
have no rights, the public is solely at the mercy of police, including
rogue cops who may not have the interests of children or any other
humanitarian ideal in mind.

With no solid information, the public really doesn't know if Melton is
arresting anybody or just popping off.

Melton needs to come in from the range on this one. Yes, enforce the
law, be tough and catch the bad guys.

But unless the public knows who the bad guys are, all the tough talk
means nothing.