I would like to preface my remarks below by stating that I feel safe when visiting Vicksburg. The worst thing that has ever happened to me has been encountering panhandlers, which probably is not criminal activity. I am pleased to report that I have seen a decrease in that.

The recent murder outside LD’s Kitchen is an ominous start for 2015 considering that there was only one murder in Vicksburg and Warren County in 2014. Let us hope that this one will be the last.

I do wish to address other criminal activity locally. The drop in the murder rate in Vicksburg and Warren county in 2014 was certainly good news to residents as well as visitors like my wife and I.

At the same time it is interesting to note that wider studies of crime in the United Sates reflect a sharp reduction of overall crime in the country since 1991 as pointed out in an extensive article by Erik Ekholm in The New York Times (Wednesday, Jan. 14). That particular article dealt primarily with violent crime, i.e murder, rape and assaults, though it also touched on lesser crimes. Let us hope that the trend continues.

While the recent reduction of murders in Vicksburg and Warren County is welcome, one wonders if the same trend has occurred in other violent crimes, as well as lesser crimes including burglary, theft, arson, criminal neglect, vandalism, harassment and embezzlement etc. A report on these figures locally would be enlightening.

Statistics available on the Internet indicate that the Vicksburg and Warren County rate is very high in all criminal activity, not only nationally but among other Mississippi cities. The latest data that I have seen only covers crime up to 2013. Hopefully criminal activity in Vicksburg and Warren County is also going down as well as murder.

One always needs to be careful in assessing data found on the Internet. It can be quite misleading. That does not preclude taking a look at the data and attempting to use it in a productive way at the local level.

The Times article cited above indicated a number of reasons for the welcome statistics, including improved social services such as counseling programs for youth and older offenders. The improving economy was cited as another reason for the reduction of criminal activity.

It would be informative to know specifically how much the rates of violent crimes, other than murder, as well as less violent crimes have fallen locally. The recent grand jury findings seem to indicate a drop. If indeed this is true it would be profoundly welcome news. Let us hope exact figures involving all criminal activity locally may be available soon as well as the incidents of murder.

Those responsible for providing support in the endeavors of social services should be noted and given continuing support. There are many services of this type available in Vicksburg. The folks who provide them are truly dedicated souls.

•

Tom Ramsey is a former Vicksburg resident, living in Rankin County and a guest columnist. He can be reached at tomramsey2@gmail.com