LOCALS TIRED OF DRUGS, TRUANCY

Two Finalists For JPD Chief Getting Feel For City

Jackson residents want the next police chief to make this a city where they
can take down the burglar bars and let the morning sun stream in or a cool
summer breeze pass through the screen door.

Yet, crime is so high in Mississippi's most-populated city few residents
risk it, said Velma Neal, president of the Sunnyside Block Club.

"If we can just go back to a time like that," said Neal, who has lived in
the capital city for 30 years. "In the late '80s and early '90s, crime got
so bad in Jackson, I don't trust leaving my door open anymore. I hope the
new police chief works to clean up drugs."

But Neal wants the next police chief to do more than focus on narcotics,
she wants police patroling her neighborhood more often. It's hard to do as
the Jackson police force now falls short of its budgeted 450 officers.

Both candidates interviewing Monday for chief of police know the city needs
600 sworn officers, not just the 430 men and women currently on the payroll.

Howard Paul Robertson, 52, of Metairie, La., and Robert Moore, 58, of
Springfield, Ill., are finalists for the $85,000- to $90,000-a-year-job.
They arrived in Jackson Saturday and are staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Two other candidates dropped out of the process, which began 14 months ago
when Police Chief Bracy Coleman retired in the midst of an internal
investigation.

Acting Police Chief Jim French and Assistant Chief Edna Drake were among 10
people recommended by Mayor Harvey Johnson's nine-member Citizens Advisory
Council, but no insider made the final cut.

Robertson did a ride along with Pct. 2 Officer Mike Huff on Saturday night
to see how JPD responds to calls before he meets with Johnson on Monday.

"We went across a lot of nice neighborhoods bordered by some with vacant
houses where the grass wasn't cut," Robertson said.

"The most important thing I saw was a lot of people waved at us as we
rolled by," Robertson said. "That's a positive sign. It means the community
would be willing to work with us."

In west Jackson, Betty A. Lyons, the president of the University Park
Neighborhood Association, wants a police chief concerned about burglaries
and a wave of truancy among youngsters.

"As far as who becomes chief, as long as they do a good job, that's all I
care about," said Lyons, who has lived in Jackson for more than 40 years.
"We need him to enforce the guidelines to keep our children in school.
Besides that, the new police chief should sit in on our neighborhood meetings."

Moore is the U.S. marshal for the Central District of Illinois. He was a
former deputy chief of criminal investigations for the Savannnah, Ga., police.

Robertson is the chief of investigations for the New Orleans district
attorney's office. He retired in 1999 as the highest-ranking uniformed
officer at the New Orleans Police Department.

His department won kudos across the nation for ridding itself of corrupt cops.

In 1999, a Linder/Maple report listed corrpution as a serious concern at
the JPD. David Sanders, the president of the Eastover Neighborhood
Association, says Robertson's stance on drug-testing any officers who work
narcotics would win public support .

"Both of the men being considered for police chief spoke to corruption,"
said Sanders, who has been a resident for 35 years. "I think what they need
to do is re-establish or enhance the public's confidence in the police
department."

Being well-trained and having leadership skills are the hallmark of Moore's
and Robertson's resumes, said Perry Robinson, who moved to Jackson in 1941
and is the president of the Georgetown Neighborhood Association.

"Several years ago, the police lost touch with residents," Robinson said.
"I'd like to see them work together again."

"Robert Johnson would deal directly with us," Robinson said. "I think he
was the most effective police chief in the history of Jackson."

Johnson was police chief from 1994 to 1997. He is now commissioner of the
Mississippi Department of Corrections.