This community, this state and this country have heard about the allegedly corrupt and dirty members of law enforcement arrested last week in the Mississippi Delta.
It made national and state headlines. You can read about the charges the FBI has made and who has been arrested on Page 9 of today’s Tate Record.
It is so easy to hurl insults at law enforcement. They are given police powers to take away the freedom of people they place under arrest and even use deadly force against those who don’t follow the law and endanger others.
Only the best make it a career. It’s a tough job and it doesn’t really pay that well.
That’s why your Tate Record will always support law enforcement when they are exercising the power of their badge and sworn duty to uphold the law.
So when reports surface about crooked cops, it is a cause for concern for good, law-abiding citizens.
Two sheriff’s and 14 law enforcement officers were arrested by the FBI on federal charges this week!
We have to believe there is some merit to those charges. We are stunned by the magnitude of the alleged corruption.
Mississippi has a history of communities not demanding professional, moral and by-the-book law enforcement.
We are just thankful no Senatobia Police or Tate County Sheriff’s Department personnel were implicated in this sting.
Senatobia and Tate County residents must always demand clean and honest law enforcement.
When your police and sheriff deputies go rotten you community soon follows. Safety and justice are the first casualties. They are replaced by drugs, juvenile delinquency and death.
Newspapers play a role in watching out for corruption. We hope both movers-and-shakers and rank-and-file in this community will report their concerns to your Tate Record.
At this point this newspaper wants to thank Senatobia Police Chief Hal Vanderford and Tate County Sheriff Luke Shepherd for running clean departments. We trust you and expect nothing less than your very best.
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