Vicksburg police deserve a pat on the back for swiftly curtailing a string of vandalism that caused thousands of dollars in damages across the city.

Police took 37 reports of windows broken out of cars and businesses by a BB gun over the last week but with extra patrolmen and investigators on the streets, the vandalism came to a halt.

“They terrorized this community for a few days and we worked around the clock until we shut it down,” Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said.

The shutdown came early Saturday morning as police arrested five juveniles and four adults. Another adult and juvenile were arrested Monday.  All the adults are set to appear in Vicksburg Municipal Court Wednesday where bond will be set. Then it’s onto Circuit Court where a grand jury will eventually examine the case and see if there is enough evidence for trial. The juvenile cases will be handled in Warren County Youth Court before Judge Johnny Price.

“We didn’t leave any stones unturned and we felt it was young people committing those crimes, and we got our break from the community and they gave us a really good tip and we followed that tip,” Armstrong said.

One of the best weapons in the VPD arsenal, though, was Crime Stoppers. The program offers a cash reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of felony suspects. No one, except the caller, knows from whom the Crime Stoppers tip came.

“We did receive a Crime Stoppers tip that will be paid as well as a tip from another individual,” Capt. Sandra Williams said. “Crime Stoppers definitely works.”

The tip gave the police department a lead to follow and old-fashioned police work led to additional arrests.

“I’m going to take this opportunity to commend the Vicksburg Police Department. Chief Armstrong, and your leadership team, have stepped up to the plate and I think that the people of this city can begin to feel we have a team before us and at least if you do the crime in this town, you’re going to get caught,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said

Let’s all thank them, too.