There have been several stories in your Clarksdale Press Register this past year reporting on crime.
We believe no other news event impacts people’s lives like being the victim of a crime. We also believe the first duty of local government is public safety.
And we have not always felt safe in 2021.
Home burglaries, assaults, car burglaries and reports of shots fired have grabbed the headlines throughout the year. And then we had the death of a 7-year-old at the hands of men shooting at another man.
We saw our board of Mayor and Commissioners defund the police in 2020 and the number of police officer on the streets of Clarksdale plummeted. Then those same city leaders gave themselves raises in 2021. We have yet to understand why they did that and what their logic might have been.
And while law enforcement is the first line of defense in fighting crime, we hope our community realizes law enforcement needs your eyes and ears to stop crime.
Too often citizens rant and rave that calling police or the sheriff’s department about a crime doesn’t do any good. We agree there may not be an immediate arrest and the caller may not see someone charged with that particular crime, but not calling guarantees nothing will be done.
We are a nation of laws and law enforcement uses those laws and bits and pieces of information and evidence to build a case and make an arrest. This newspaper urges every lawman in this county to always take their time and make sure the right person is arrested, charged and – if the courts demand it – convicted and sentenced.
But their work usually starts with a telephone call from a citizen.
Suspicious vehicles with burglars inside can be stopped by police, if someone calls.
Drug dealers can be swept from our community and kept away from our children, if parents will call and report suspected drug activity in their neighborhood or school.
The truth is crooks realize quickly, when a community is alert and willing to call the cops, and that it is time to move on and seek easier pickings.
Again it all starts with a telephone call.
So pick up the telephone. Call in a tip. Let’s make 2022 the year we make Clarksdale safe again.
