Tupelo PD Coverup (NEW HOME)

[All Seeing Eye]

I will begin by posting all the information I have regarding the Mall at Barnes Crossing and the Tupelo PD for the 3rd time! Some of this has been edited to get in line with the rules at this forum, but the facts are here in all there glory!

I have something that has been covered up for far too long and it is factual. It is a complete WASTE of our tax money and it involves the Police Department, you can check this out for yourselves, but it is a completely accurate summation of a serious WASTE of money and resources.

How much money do you think the Mall at Barnes Crossing pulls in every year in revenue? Keep that question in the back of your mind as you read the following:

The Mall at Barnes Crossing is PRIVATE PROPERTY. It is a business. It's job is to enjoy and suckle the wonderful capitalism teet. It is PRIVATELY owned.

Lots of people go to and congregate at the mall. Therefore, you can expect there to be troublemakers close by. The mall employs it's own security force. They pay people to work as SECURITY for THEM.

So why would the mall request our police department to provide officers to stay on PRIVATE PROPERTY on Friday and Saturday nights? Now, this is not just any officers...it's reserve officers.

Reserve officers are volunteers who wear the badge and donate their time to help the police department. They are trained, sworn, and do many of the same things full time officers do. Reserve officers wear uniforms, use equipment, cars, and other items paid for and provided by the CITY OF TUPELO. They are not paid a salary, but they are on the City's Insurance Rider. They are essentially part time employees of the City of Tupelo....more importantly, they are POLICE. Yet, they are constantly ordered to POLICE at Private Property.

Can anyone name another business in town that has police protection PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS? Apparently this was an acceptable practice to the previous mayor and is also acceptable to the current administration. Your tax dollars are being used for police protection at a PRIVATELY OWNED BUSINESS.

Think about this: Instead of hiring more security or perhaps paying these officers a few bucks to work a security detail for them, they cry waah-waah to the mayor and chief to get TAXPAYER FUNDED POLICE PROTECTION.

These Reserve officers have full police powers. They can make arrests, EXCEPT WHEN THEY WORK AT THE MALL. These officers are ordered to walk the mall but do nothing. If mall security catches a shoplifter, they hold the shoplifter with the reserve officer who in turn calls 911 to pull a full time officer off the street to come and arrest the subject and take him to jail.

Where is the logic in this? You have an officer there with arrest powers, a badge, a gun, a pair of handcuffs, and a City-Owned Police Unit...yet he cannot arrest the subject and must call ANOTHER officer off the street to do what he is capable of? Now we have another gas guzzlin' Crown Vic at the mall. This is one gigantic waste of resources, time, and of course, TAXPAYER MONEY!

This is not during the holidays, this is an almost weekly request. These officers are resources that the City should cherish and use....not ABUSE.

When does Walmart get it's own TAXPAYER FUNDED Police Unit? Or how about Best Buy? or any other business in town? Why does the Mall get this priviledge? Name another mall in America with it's OWN Police Force. Not even the former Mall of Memphis got this kind of treatment when it was overrun by gang activity.

Believe me, they have been hiding this for a long time, and if we had any reporters with some yams in their pocket, they could get some mileage out of this. It has legs, it is factual, and you can ask the Mall Manager about it. I'm sure he will try and put on a good face and downplay it, but he CANNOT DENY IT. Nor can the Mayor or former Mayor or the Chief of Police.

Although this post is my opinion, the above is accurate and can easily be checked out. ;D

[All Seeing Eye]

The following link takes you to the reserve website. Just look at the number of days they are being scheduled to be at the mall:

tupelopolice.com/

From March 11 to September 30. That's 30 days. I'm guessing the mall pays it's security people around $12.00 per hour (that's probably a little high) X 2 Hours = $24 X 30 Days = $720 dollars. Doesn't sound like much, but when you factor in equipment, insurance, gas and the fact that over the last four years they actually have DEMANDED 2 officers be ON SITE most weekends and the waste of sending a full time officer to the mall to actually affect ANY arrest, this number jumps exponentially. I would guess just in the last 4 years, the Mall IS ALLOWED TO RIPOFF over $25,000 of TAXPAYER MONEY because they cannot shell out a paltry 75 dollars extra per day for enough security to cover their property.

In my opinion, Mayor Neely, and Chief Chaffin have to be aware of this misappropriation of taxpayer money. Call them and tell them you want police protection when you shop at Walmart, Kroger, when you go out to eat at Wendy's, and Cracker Barrell. When you rent a movie at Blockbuster, and when you buy gas at any convenient store. Why not? If the City can afford to pay at the mall why not EVERY private business where crime is likely to happen?

These are the same people who ARE SHOCKED by the legal costs of annexation? How can someone be shocked when they know the rate of the attorney, sign the checks, and have attempted this process once before. Yet, this slides right under the radar, and they are praying the public does not know about it. NOT ANYMORE. ;D

[crow]

All Seeing Eye, If what you say is true, Free Police protection at Barns Crossing Mall (And at this time I have no reason to believe otherwise) then the City adminnastration must approve of it, and there must be a good reason for it.

[All Seeing Eye]

I'm afraid there is NO good reason an police officer should be working for a private business. There is no good reason taxpayer money should be used for ANY private business because they are too cheap to hire their own security. There is no good reason the Mall at Banes Crossing cannot pay for it's own security.

The City of Tupelo, in fact is subsidising the Mall at Barnes Crossing and their has been no referendum or vote by the Council or the people of this town.

Their is no good reason the City would risk it's insurance rating and liability for a private business. Their is no good reason for any of this at all. It is a waste, plain and simple. They should stop this right now, and the Mayor should follow through on his campaign promises.

[rutrow]

Maybe somebody can refresh my memory of any tupelo mayor who kept his campaign promises. I am sure there has to be at least one out there.

[Crimson]

I haven't lived here long enough to know of any personally.

[crow]

All Seeing Eye, It is my understanding, that most of Tupelo's policemen working at the Mall, are off-duty policemen trying to supplyment their income in oreder to feed and house their families, and are paid by the Mall stores.

I also understood, they (the policemen) don't wear Tupelo City Police badges, I however don't know that to be a fact, as I haven't shopped at Barns Crossing Mall in years. I try an spend my money with home-town folks.

[Need A Leader]

The officer's working at the mall are Reserve Officer's. They are volunteer Police Officer's meaning they have full arrest powers. Their capacity is law enforcement, not security. They wear full City of Tupelo Police Department Uniforms. The Mall security may hire off duty officer's to work as security, and that is a problem in itself, but unrelated to what this whole stink is about.

These officer's are not paid by the mall, but by the City of Tupelo to work in the mall. As has been noted by other's a lot more eloquent on this particular subject, they are augmenting mall security. They are ordered to go there, but they cannot make arrests. It is the most rediculous waste of money and resources I have seen with full proof out on the web. And yet the City does nothing to rectify the problem. In effect, they are giving the mall police protection using taxpayer money. It's a shame and very sad.

[Odiekokee]

Reserves provide their own gear and time. City provides patrol cars (when available) and uniforms, training, and OTJ insurance. There's not much in the way of taxpayer money involvedThe question is why can't citizens be trusted to act like something beyond animals and behave themselves in public. Shepherding shouldn't need to be done. But...the world is full of ignorant people.

[TF Admin]

Odiekokee

I used to be a reserve. Yes, reserves provide their own gear, but what the City does supply costs quite a bit of money. I don't run things at the City, but I believe they need to look at this really hard.

TFADMIN