Sixteen-year Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin this morning was handed “carte blanche” over law enforcement in the crime-riddled City of Jackson.

In a late-morning press conference, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton said he and McMillin, 62, had agreed the former actor and long-time law enforcement officer would direct all crimefighting efforts in the state’s capital city and county.

“He will have carte blanche to do whatever he believes needs to be done,” Melton said. “Recruiting officers is a continuing process.”

McMillin, who has openly argued with members of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors about funding and facilities, “will finally be able to get the resources he needs,” Melton said.

Jackson’s Police Department, has had 14 chiefs since 1988. Melton, who was elected in 2005, moved the most recent chief this week to an administrative post and had said Thursday that Vicksburg Police Chief Tommy Moffett, along with the newest interim chief, Gerald Jones, and former three-time chief Bracy Coleman, were being considered for the top city spot.

Melton, McMillin and attorney and former Jackson Mayor Dale Danks, who made today’s announcement together, did not make clear how the merger of the two offices — police chief and sheriff — would work.

“This is not a consolidation of budgets or departments,” McMillin said. “It will be a consolidation for one vision for law enforcement for the city and the county.”

McMillin said other cities and counties in the United States, including in Los Angeles, have one person who heads up both agencies.

McMillin said he will begin his position immediately with an evaluation of personnel.

“We’re going to turn things around,” he said. “We’re going to look at manpower and where we place our emphasis.”

He promised to have a “transparent” administration, opening information to the public and the press.

Jackson has been listed among the FBI’s lists of highest-crimes cities in the nation in terms of population. The crimes have included murders, rapes and robberies.

Moffett, who was contacted at his Vicksburg office this morning, was quick to say he was not interested in leaving Vicksburg for Jackson.

“I bought a home here,” Moffett said. “I put a lot of time and effort into this job.”

Moffett was named police chief by the City of Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen shortly after Laurence Leyens was elected in 2001 to his first term in the mayor’s office. Before that, Moffett had been with the Biloxi Police Department for 29 years. In 1986, he became the first black police chief for the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s second-largest city.

Moffett, 57, has overseen a department that has dwindled in numbers since 2001 — from 86 to 72 — but has received consistent support from Leyens. Police officials have said the department has done more with less, in terms of manpower.

Moffett is paid about $80,000 each year in Vicksburg. The top post in the Jackson Police Department pays $114,000.