I enjoy my job. I get to watch the wheels turn on city, county, state and federal government and then tell you about it.
I get to meet you each week in this space and give you a slice of life from The Home of The Blues.
I also get to write your wedding announcements, birth announcements, sports and school accomplishments and then your obituary.
I am one of the lucky ones who knew what he was called to do early in life and that door has been opened to me for more than 30 years.
But there are parts of my job that I gladly do, but don't enjoy.
Chasing first responders is one of them.
Firefighters
They called them firemen when I got in this business and now they are called firefighters.
I don't think most of us realize how highly trained today's firefighter is.
Today's firefighter faces so many challenges each time the alarm sounds. They go to medical calls to help with lifting and first aid. They go to vehicle accidents to make sure your car doesn't catch on fire. And of course there are hazardous materials accidents and they never know what is on that truck.
Please remember these are also the folks who rush inside your house to save your stuff while you stand in the yard and pray that those guys and everything you own doesn't all go up in smoke.
And firefighting has changed. The equipment they use is expensive and complex. The burning chemicals they face today weren't around 20-years ago.
I covered a fire this week that burned everything in a house on Andrews Street. The Clarksdale Fire Department hit it as hard as they could, but it was too late.
Please thank those people who run in a burning house when everyone else is running out.
Policemen
I once covered a story where a police officer was called by a mother and when he arrived on the scene she asked him to spank her 12-year-old.
And over the past 30-years I have also attended the funerals of two police officers I have known personally. Both were shot and killed in the line of duty.
I've always felt it takes a special kind of man to wake up every morning, strap on a gun, pin on a badge and head out to right the world.
And since they serve the population of Clarksdale, these policemen and women get more crazy calls than you can imagine. I don't know about you, but dealing with crazy people is the part of my job I hate. Many are drug addicts, some have been that way since birth, some the world has warped and they are just out there walking around.
And police deal with these truly certifiables every day.
We also have too many unsolved homicides in Clarksdale. Everyone in this town wants justice for those murders.
I also feel it’s time to get tough on crime and bums who are a nuisance and dirty our downtown.
And we want to the police to do it! It’s not a job I want.
Police don't solve every crime, and sadly, they don’t get a lot of help from this community.
I will add there are two kinds of police officers in the world name-takers and peacemakers. Clarksdale needs a good mix of both.
The Sheriff
Sheriff Mario Magsby is one of the most professional sheriff's I have ever met in my career.
No, he isn't the most highly educated, the smartest or the most successful, but he does treat people with respect and listens to their concerns. He expects the same from the deputies who serve under him.
We see so many violent crime-fighters on TV, we often expect our law enforcement to knock heads and then break for a commercial. It may make good television, but it's not the real world of law enforcement.
Reports or drug dealing, theft rings and gangs take weeks and months of investigation before an arrest is made. They also often involve other agencies. How would you like a job where you don't know if the people you are dealing with are telling you straight and would just as soon see you dead?
The Sheriff is the highest ranking law officer in the county and he is the one who should take the lead on high profile crimes anywhere in Coahoma County.
The voters of this community have elected a good man. Now we have to get behind him and make sure he has the community support to truly do his job.
First Responders
And don't forget our volunteer firefighters, coroner, Emergency Management executive, ambulance personnel and 911 dispatchers. They are all part of a first response team that serves you day and night.
How would you like to do their job?
I've got one. Their job is not the one I want.
But people do want to know where that big red truck is going when they pass it on the highway. They do want to know why those blue lights were in their neighborhood the other night. And when the ambulance siren sounds they want to hear about their friend from high school days being picked up by EMTs.
There is not a doubt in my mind first responders will be hard a work today and tonight. They will be keeping you safe, responding to your calls for help and listening to you as you call in reports of crime.
I think I will stick with the job of chasing these men and women. I will tell you, it is hard to keep up.
Floyd Ingram is the Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. He was raised with a respect for men and women in uniform and will gladly to talk to any first responder about their job or problems at 662-626-2201.
