Connect with us
[the_ad_placement id="manual-placement"] [the_ad_placement id="obituaries"]

Opinion

VPD Officers, Thank You For What You Do – Stay Within the Lines

Published

on

editorial, transparency

VICKSBURG, Miss. – This week, in Vicksburg, a citizen caught an officer swerving on the highway. It quickly went viral. The incident was also quickly addressed by city officials and the command staff of the VPD. It happened, they responded and that officer will, no doubt, be disciplined for not representing the department to the highest standard.

If the shoe was on the other foot: if that was a citizen with a patrol unit behind them, a citizen who swerved in the lane like that, rode the center line several times, and crossed into the other lane just before rapidly exiting from across the center line without signaling, that citizen would have been pulled over and most likely given citations and most likely tested for a DUI. A citizen would likely not receive grace and understanding for whatever may have caused such erratic behavior.

The World Did Not End, However…

At it’s core, this is the frustration that citizens share with incidents such as these. The VPD officer driving that marked unit made a bad decision, regardless of whatever reason was distracting them while driving on the interstate. From most credible sources the world did not end and there were thankfully no injuries. However, citizens find themselves too often in nonviolent situations with police that take no account in anything but THAT immediate moment. Not their reasoning, not their character, just the infraction. A life distilled.

So when an officer or public official makes such a poor decision and it is brought to light, we are asked to swallow a bitter pill of understanding. We are expected to understand that it was a mistake. As citizens, we are reminded of their character, and that this is just a moment. We are also reminded that we are not afforded the same.

A police officer has to be one of the most emotionally draining jobs on the planet. They spend most of their work day dealing with people who don’t want to see them. These officers have supervisors who can’t wait to write them up for the smallest infraction. They have a modern public who, thanks to YouTube and TikTok, is in their face talking about rights they sometimes don’t clearly understand. They are operating in a post George Floyd world where everything is recorded and makes it’s way to the internet.

That is a good thing. Good officers are shown time and time again to be good officers, bad officers are exposed and dealt with appropriately, and good officers who make poor choices are held accountable.

At All Times

The swerving incident happened, it was reported and, from credible sources, appropriately handled. This might be a good time to thank the officers of our Vicksburg Police Department for what they do and the efforts they make to keep us safe. They could probably always use a little encouragement from the public.

This is also a moment to remind the officers and public officials that you are human like the rest of us. However, you will always be held to a higher standard. The citizens need to witness those that are tasked with upholding the law will adhere to the law at all times.

To the driver of police car #1601, VDN has no qualms about reporting that story. It is newsworthy and like we tell everyone, “We love you, but if you do something foolish, we’re going to report it.”

One more note to the driver of car #1601: We know who you are and know you are one of the finest officers we’ve ever met. The city is lucky to have you and the citizens are lucky to have you. Shake this one off and learn from this, we need you.

See a typo? Report it here.
Continue Reading
Advertisement