HOW JAMES PERKINS, JR. DESTROYED THE SELMA POLICE DEPARTMNT AND CAUSED CRIME TO SOAR OUT OF CONTROL
6-27-12
At the end of the term of the late Mayor Joe T. Smitherman on October 1, 2000, the City of Selma had an effective police force and a crime rate that was consistent with other cities with a population of approximately 20,000. Within seven years, then Mayor James Perkins, Jr. HAD COMPLETELY DEMORALIZED THE SELMA POLICE DEPARTMENT AND CRIME WAS OUT OF CONTROL. Within a space of five years from 2003-2008, Perkins had fired or hired 4 chiefs of police (Tate, Green, Martin and Riley).
Realizing that something needed to be done to reorganize the Selma Police Department (SPD), the City Council hired a professional consulting firm, Public Safety Consultants, Inc (PSCI) to evaluate the department and recommend what could be done to return the SPD to an efficient and capable law enforcement agency. It was evident that whatever Perkins’ ideas were ABOUT WHAT A POLICE DEPARTMENT WAS AND WHAT IT SHOULD BE DOING HAD PROVEN TO A DISASTER BOTH FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND THE CITY AND THAT THE RESULT WAS THAT CRIME WAS SOARING OUT OF CONTROL.
PSCI did an extensive study of the SPD and issued a 110 page report on its findings and recommendations. THE REPORT WAS A DEVASTATING CRITIQUE OF MAYOR PERKINS AND THE WAY HE HAD HAD, IN EFFECT, RUN THE SPD INTO THE GROUND. There is a direct correlation between the increased crime in Selma and the way Perkins viewed and misused police officers and the SPD.
Under James Perkins, Jr. as Mayor IN 2007, the PSCI Report said:
“SELMA HAS A CRIME RATE EQUIVALENT TO A CITY OF APPROXIMATELY 40,000 PEOPLE”.
With less than 20,000 people in 2007, Perkins had so wrongly viewed crime and criminals and so demoralized the SPD that SELMA HAD A CRIME RATE DOUBLE WHAT OTHER CITIES THIS SIZE HAD…and this is the man who wants to be Mayor again!!!
The entire 110 PSCI Report exposed MAYOR PERKINS as a man who has no idea how to reduce crime, how to deal with criminals or how to communicate with and support law enforcement officers. Although we have a copy of the entire PSCI REPORT and can expand on each of the following findings and statements of the consultants, we print some of them below to illustrate how PERKINS was inept and incompetent in combating crime or building a strong Police Department. The PSCI REPORT said:
*OVERALL, PSCI FINDS THE SELMA POLICE DEPARTMENT IN A CRISES STATE. The department’s needs have been neglected and the effects of this neglect shows. It is years behind in technology” (page 99)
*The salaries are below those of other departments, which makes recruiting new officers more difficult”
*PSCI LEANRED THAT SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS WERE HIRED TAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN HIRED AND IF APPROPRIATE BACKGROUNDS HAD BEEN PERFOMED THESE MISTAKES WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED. These kinds of mistakes are serious and could cause the City and the Police Department a lawsuit for negligent hiring and negligent retention” (page 101)
*Selma Police Department has hired several individuals with questionable backgrounds. In at least one case the person was hired that had a warrant for her arrest. This is totally unacceptable” (page 101)
*The SPD needs to appoint a person that wants to serve as the department’s training officer. The person currently in charge dislikes this assignment and only does the bare minimum” (page 101)
*The current manual (Policies and Procedures) is significantly outdated and requires complete revision” (p. 102)
*Consistency in discipline was a major issue” (p. 103)
*PSCI believes that the educational level of the Selma Police officers needs to improve” (p. 104)
*We heard many complaints about the status of the maintenance of the patrol cars” (p. 105)
*It is our opinion that new vehicles were being provided to those in the organization that did not require new vehicles.” (p. 105)
*”Selma has a crime rate equivalent to a city of approximately 40,000 people” (p. 106)
*”The officer survey indicated that the officers do not believe that they have the support of the Mayor…” (p. 107)
*”PSCI reviewed the existing technology within the SPD and finds it to be grossly out dated and insufficient” (p. 79)
*”The Selma Police Department is at risk for negligent training. The training practices are poor to non-existent.” (p. 78)
*PSCI learned that there is no formal training provided to a new supervisor (sergeant) or manager (lieutenant and above) at the SPD” (p. 77)
*”The department receives about 4 citizen complaints per week. For a department the size of Selma, that is a high number of complaints. PSCI is aware of other police departments the size of Selma that have that number of complaints for the entire year” (p. 71)
*”The officer survey disclosed that the officers believe that the department does not administer discipline fairly. They believe that certain officers, in favor with the administration, receive more favorable consideration than those not in such favor” p. 71)
*”Many misdemeanor warrants go for years before they are served and some are never served” (p.67)
*”The analysis of the Selma crime problem reveals a significantly high number of crimes. Selma has a crime rate experienced by much larger cities.
*”PSCI is concerned about the disparity between the crimes reported to the FBI in the Uniform Crime Reports and those reported in the departmental statistics. In certain instances, there are large disparities between the two sets of crime data”. (page 55)
*”Officers are convinced that there is a mold problem in the building and that it is causing employees to get sick” (p. 42)
*”The officers do not believe that the Mayor’s office supports the police department.
THIS REPORT WAS ISSUED AFTER JAMES PERKINS, JR HAD BEEN MAYOR FOR 7 years and had had complete control over the Selma Police Department. When we consider the condition of the SPD, it is NO WONDER CRIME WAS OUT OF CONTROL and Perkins did not have a clue about how to get it under control. We are still feeling the effects of his incompetence as related to the SPD today.
When Mayor Smitherman left office the SPD was an effective law enforcement agency and crime was no worse here than in other cities this size. WHEN PERKINS LEFT OFFICE, THE SPD WAS A DISASTER AND CRIME IN SELMA WAS DOUBLE WHAT IT SHOULD BE FOR A CITY OUR SIZE!
And this is the man who wants to be Mayor again? There are many reasons why James Perkins, Jr. should never be Mayor of Selma again. HOW HE WRECKED THE SPD AND CAUSED CRIME TO SKYROCKET IS ONE REASON HE SHOULD NEVER BE MAYOR AGAIN!
