Dear Editor:
In a recent article in The Millington Star, Mr. Ed Haley, Millington City Manager, said our city is fully staffed in the police department, with 40 officers, if memory serves correctly. I’m a big fan of Mr. Haley, have been since he was a great help to me, during difficult times in high school after my father died in a plane crash. But, I don’t believe Mr. Haley’s numbers are accurate.
Recently, counting the wonderful lady who answers the phone, dispatcher, jailer, and every officer, I get 29 people at best in the Police Department.
Millington Police officers are the lowest paid in the State of Tennessee. That’s one reason we lost 18 officers last year. As a result, three shifts a day, we have at most 3 officers and 3 cars one the streets, assuming a shift supervisor is available, and if not, we only have 2 officers, in 2 cars.
As I predicted, recently we had only 2 officers during a shift, and one had to transport a prisoner (a male) to 201 poplar, and the other officer transported a female to Jail East , leaving us with 0 officer(s) to keep us safe.
In December 2018, Mr. Haley decided, unilaterally, with no input from anyone, to shut down the Court (for general sessions jurisdiction) and Jail, because the jail was costing the city too much money. In my opinion, Mr. Haley was focused on a symptom, not the problem.
Now, Mr. Haley has decided to keep the jail open after all, 24/7/365 days a year, apparently in recognition of the fact, finally, that we are dangerously low on officers, we can’t keep the ones we have, and the Shelby County Sheriff’s department is not going to act as a cab service to transport prisoners arrested by Millington Police Department.
A. Wilson Wages
Millington
