NATCHEZ &045;&045; In a three-page statement he sent Mayor Phillip West and Natchez aldermen, Police Department Mike Mullins addressed point by point complaints the NAACP leveled against Mullins in a May 24 aldermen meeting.

Copies were distributed to Mayor West’s office and to aldermen late last week and on Monday.

Aldermen voted 4-3 in October, with Mayor West breaking the tie, to rehire Officer Willie B. Jones, although City Attorney Walter Brown told them state law authorizes only the Civil Service Commission to rehire officers.

A person who has been out of law enforcement for two years or more must be approved by Standards and Training to attend a refresher course prior to being re-certified. Standards and Training, on May 12, voted to cancel Jones’ certification for two years due to past conduct by Jones.

A letter read by Natchez resident Eva Dunkley and later expounded upon by the Rev. Leon Howard, chairman of the local NAACP chapter’s Negotiating Committee, in the May 24 meeting stated Mullins would not accept Jones’ certification to be hired as an officer.

In his statement, Mullins reiterated that only the Civil Service Commission, based on tests and interviews, can specify who is qualified to be hired as an officer but that, in this case, it was the mayor and aldermen who reinstated Jones.

And he noted that Standards and Training, not him, rules on certification of officers.

In 1997, Jones allegedly offered a fellow officer $260 not to pursue a drug charge against a relative of Jones’ then-fianc/e.

Jones resigned before an investigation into the matter was finished and was later arrested in the case. Jones was charged with felony obstruction of justice but pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

The charge was expunged, or wiped from his record, late last year.

The NAACP letter read in the May 24 meeting stated Mullins lied to aldermen Theodore &uot;Bubber&uot; West and Rickey Gray, telling them nothing was on an audiotape on which Jones allegedly offered Sgt. David Lindsey the bribe.

&uot;The letter goes on to state ‘We believe this was done to make the aldermen who voted to hire Officer Jones look foolish,’&uot; Mullins said in his statement.

Mullins added he played the tape for Alderman West and Gray on a desktop player but that it was hard to understand. Mullins added the eight-year-old tape was now of such poor quality that it would need to be played on a higher quality tape player.

The tape transcript provided to Standards and Training prior to the May 12 hearing was produced by listening to the tape on a higher-quality player, Mullins said.

Howard, in the May 24 aldermen meeting, stated a copy of the tape Mullins provided Jones in March had only beeps where Jones’ voice should have been.

&uot;If that were true,&uot; Mullins said in his statement, &uot;why would he not request to listen to the original tape or request another copy between March 2 and the (Standards and Training) hearing on May 12, a period of over two months?&uot;

NAACP representatives also mentioned a lawsuit DirecTV filed against Sgt. David Lindsey, a case in which Lindsey was not disciplined.

That was a class action lawsuit the company filed against all who, like Lindsey, ordered equipment &uot;to enhance satellite service.&uot; The case was later settled.

Mullins said the city must ultimately decide how far it will go to discipline officers who have civil, not criminal, matters pending. It’s not uncommon, for example, for officers to have their pay garnished or bounce checks, he noted.

When contacted about similar responses Mullins the day after the aldermen meeting, Howard said he would comment later but, as of press time Monday, he had not.

In a May 26 article, Mullins responded to NAACP complaints that he acted with bias toward black officers by noting that five of 10 police supervisors are black.

Of the department’s sworn officers, 28 are black and 22 white. Of civilian officers, such as dispatchers, detention employees and administrative personnel, 51 are black and 24 white.

Of the officers who supervise the department’s four patrol shifts, all four are white.

Mullins said that is because two black officers who were supervising patrol shifts, requested a transfer to dispatch and purchasing, a matter Mullins mentioned in his written statement.