Joseph Stubbs begins every day the same way.

Rain or shine, he drives a golf cart down Washington Street, popping into the businesses on the strip to say hello and greet workers as they begin their day. Stubbs makes sure to walk inside every single shop, from Michel’s Music to Highway 61 Coffee, before morning fades into afternoon. There’s a reason he goes to such lengths to talk to every person on the street, and it’s not just because the golf cart is easy to parallel park.

Stubbs is the new downtown patrol officer for the Vicksburg Police Department, serving businesses and residents from F&G Beverage to The Klondyke from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The 23-year-old has been on the beat for a little over a month now, establishing relationships with the people along Washington Street and acting as a friendly liaison between the police department and residents.

“I ask them how they’re doing, how’s their day. If they need anything, I usually ask,” Stubbs said. “I gave them my personal cell phone number so they can call. They have a direct line to me and I’ll zoom to help them.”

In just a short time, he has become as much a staple of the downtown area as the museums and shops that dot the street. With the permanent police presence along Washington Street every day, crime has dropped significantly and business owners feel safer and more secure.

“We had a lot of problems on it. Now the problems are gone,” Stubbs said. “We have regulars, ones who cause regular problems, and now when they see me they walk the other way and we have no crime usually. There’s crime everywhere, but the crime on Washington Street has dwindled since I got here.”

So much so, in fact, Stubbs said he has only filed three reports since being on the job and two of them were wrecks.

“A lot of the business owners really appreciate us being down here, as well as the population down here because it fells safer. That’s what I normally get from tourists. It’s nice to have us on the streets.”

Lurline Simmons has owned the Crown To Heels boutique downtown since 2011. She says she’s seen a drastic boom in the safety and business since Stubbs began patrolling.

“It’s a huge difference to have a designated police officer downtown,’ Simmons said. “It keeps everybody on their toes. It wards off anybody who is going to do harm or trespass or shoplift. Now, all the folks that would ever attempt to do something like that can’t just come in and pop in and do what they want to.”

The Vicksburg native also helps the tourists from across the globe who pack the area while on vacation.

“I’ve walked these streets all my life. I know the background behind Vicksburg, too, which helps me relate to the tourists who ask those questions,” Stubbs said. “That helps our relationship, because when a tourist needs something on Washington Street, I can help them immediately.”

Stubbs says relationships with the public are key to being a police officer, a job that requires someone to be part law enforcement, part community representative and part friend.

“Community is everything. Without the community, we wouldn’t be here, plain and simple,” Stubbs said. “We are paid to help out the community. We’re not paid to hinder the community. We’re there to help.”