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.