I would like to share my opinion after reading the Vicksburg Post “Opinion” page of Feb 13, 2015 entitled “Expatriate Observer.”
I agree that the Vicksburg/Warren County crime rate (violent crimes) may have gone down in 2014, which I am extremely happy about, especially compared to the murder rate in Jackson that we hear about nearly every night on the news.
I have lived in Warren County since 1991 in the same place on a dead end road out in the County. My husband and in-laws have been in this same spot since 1984. What a perfect place to live, until 2013.
I can only speak for myself and my extended family who also live in Warren County. None of us are as happy about living here as we first were years ago.
My Father-in-law is our closest neighbor on our dead end road, and he and my husband have a really nice shop on the same land. One night in July 2013, someone broke into this shop and stole 4 chainsaws, 2 weed eaters and other assets valued at over $3000. The very next day my daughter spotted some young black males hiding behind the shop trying to come back to see if anything was left to steal. This crime was never solved.
Next in Sept. 2013, my daughter’s family’s home in Warren County was broken into. It was also broken into two weeks later in Oct. 2013. Taken were guns, phones, money and computers. This crime also was never solved.
A year later, around Sept. 2014, at my son’s family’s home his truck was invaded and had ammunition stolen. About the same time, on another side of Warren County, my nephew’s family’s home had vehicles broken into with computers and guns stolen.
This brings us to Jan. 23, 2015. On this date around 9:30 a.m., I had to leave early that morning and so did my husband. This left my 86-year-old father-in-law that had suffered from a stroke, at home alone. He did not have his door locked, because he was still too trusting, even after his shop was broken into in 2013. Four to five young black males were seen running across his yard after switching off his power outside his home. After getting his attention, so he would go out to check on this, some of them ran in the other door, took money from his wallet and took his car keys then proceeded to leave in his car. This crime also is unsolved.
It was never reported in the Vicksburg Post, but was reported on a local radio station. I felt that this was a crime our neighbors and Warren County citizens needed to know for their own safety. After telling about this on social media, we found out that other neighbors in our area had also had break-ins and other problems.
No this was not a murder or violent crime, but it sure could have been if he had been in the way of the suspects getting what they thought they deserved. This man worked all his life for what he had and did not deserve this.
We, as citizens of Vicksburg/Warren County have got to fight back and protect what belongs to us. As for my family, we are doing what needs to be done, even though it has been an expensive lesson to learn. This includes acquiring security systems, weapons permits, and security bars. I would also be interested in seeing new statistics of non-violent crimes in Vicksburg/Warren County.
Wishes to remain anonymous
Warren County