I am a 70-year-old Army combat veteran.

I grew up in Vicksburg in the late 1940s and early 50s, and when I see the actions of some of today’s predominantly black police, it makes me wish for an earlier time when police left us largely alone in the areas and neighborhoods we called home.

Confrontation with police in areas like Marcus Bottom, Felix Crossing, Fort Hill and Jonestown were not nearly as frequent or frightening as they are today when normal police tactics include massive presence and weapons at the ready.

In the past 40 days, I have witnessed two raids on a restaurant in Marcus Bottom. The first one came with five police cars and weapons ready to use. What they found was me and four other middle-aged men shooting pool and watching games on TV. They checked us out and left.

The second was on June 17 when police cars surrounded the restaurant. One officer pulled his vehicle’s front bumper up to the front door to block entry and exit. Officers said they had gotten a 911 call about a problem at the restaurant. But there hadn’t seemed to be any effort to verify it. I walked outside to see if there were any customers or disruption on the outside, and there wasn’t. But I remained outside observing.

Later the police came back and put their vehicles in places where they couldn’t be seen. Customers, fearing the police, began to come out, and several were stopped and harassed. As I left, I asked an officer what we had done wrong that caused them to come back. He grabbed me by the arm, handcuffed me, took me to my vehicle, searched it, threw me into the back of his vehicle, and slammed the door on my right ankle. When he returned, I asked him again what I had done wrong, and his response was that he had arrested me for public drunkenness. I asked for an alcohol test, but he refused to give me one.

Now there is an American Legion Post downtown, less than one block from the police station, where there have been shootings and other disturbances. Seldom, if ever, do police even look in that direction. Elsewhere in the city, I see people sitting outside, listening to music, and drinking alcohol. Some people sit with open containers downtown on Washington Street, but I never see the police arresting them for public drinking or drunkenness. They just look away. So my question is: Why is enforcement so overwrought in the black community, and so lackadaisical in others? Why isn’t there equal enforcement everywhere?

Some of us suspect that the rules in black areas or establishments don’t apply to white areas or establishments. Others think that black cops are “proving” themselves by putting other blacks out of business or in jail. Or, perhaps, that they are afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t. There are good and fair black cops in Vicksburg. But bad ones are ruining the name of our town like they did in one not far away.

I would love to see the all-black area where I grew up in Marcus Bottom develop into a little New Orleans with open containers, blues music and zydeco, rock ’n roll, jazz, and country. Right now, all it has is a blues marker, marking nothing but memories. This would bring visitors to Vicksburg and money to the city. But it will never happen if police officers continue to use terror tactics when answering 911 calls, and never bother to try to find out if something is a hoax.

Capt. Willie J. Hunter

Vicksburg