Today, families across Vicksburg and Warren County will gather in homes, exchange gifts, gather at the table for a festive Christmas meal and spend the day free from the toils of making a living and enjoying each other’s company.

But for the police officers and sheriff’s deputies working the holiday, it’s a unique period as they deal with keeping the city and county safe and missing time with their families. While the streets and roads for the most part may be empty during the day, the potential for problems and crime still exist.

“A lot of the businesses are closed, so we go by and check on them,” said Vicksburg police Lt. Penny Jones, the supervisor of the day shift working today. “We have to check and make sure they’re secure and no one’s trying to break in.”

And despite the Christmastime values of peace, love and understanding, there is the potential for domestic violence.

“You’ll have people getting together and there will be arguments, and they will get out of hand and we will be called,” said sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Ford Emery.

“Sometimes it’s an old problem that’s been simmering for a long time and sometimes it comes to a head,” Johnson said. “A lot of times it’s going to be the father that didn’t buy the children a present or anything, and then they go by the house to check on the kids and it blows up to a big squabble, most of the time someone ends up going to jail behind it, because it doesn’t stop.”

Many of the domestic problems are fueled by alcohol from people consuming too much at family gatherings or Christmas parties, officer Jerrold Haynes said.

And there are traffic accidents that can also be caused by alcohol.

“We will get those calls, and the one thing you don’t want to see is a loss of life, especially to a child,” Emery said, “because that is something that will stay with the family forever, because that memory will be part of their holiday.”

There are also the lighter moments, when officers see something they wouldn’t usually see during a regular week.

Emery said he and sheriff’s investigator Sam Winchester, who is also working the holiday weekend, “have probably seen everything,” not giving any specifics, but accenting his comment with a smile and a laugh.

“Seeing Santa walking down the street,” Vicksburg officer Stanley Williams said.

“An intoxicated Santa,” officer Lee Kennedy added.

And there are the people in the neighborhoods.

“When you go in the neighborhoods, you see the children riding their bikes and playing with their toys,” Johnson said. “They’ll come up and tell you, ‘Look what I got!’”

“People will wave and come up and tell you, ‘Thank you,’” Kennedy said.

“The people in the county are great,” Emery said. “You’ll be on patrol and they’ll wave at you; they’ll ask you, ‘Why don’t you come in for a while?’ Or you’ll go on a call and they’ll ask you to stay a bit longer. The people are just great. They appreciate what you’re doing.”

Because the officers and deputies each work 12-hour shifts, they are away from their families for most of the day. That means altering family traditions to fit the work schedule.

For Kennedy, who is not married and has no children, working Christmas is like any other workday.

“If I can work so another officer with a family and children can have off, I’m glad to do it,” he said.

In many ways, the same is true for Winchester and Emery.

While both men are married, “We’ve been doing this for so long, and our children have gotten older, so they understand,” said Emery, who is the patrol shift sergeant on duty. He has been a deputy for 30 years; Winchester for 23.

At the police department, the officers’ wives will make pulling the shift a little easier by preparing and taking food for the officers to eat when they return to file reports or take a break.

But there will be opportunities for the officers to enjoy family time.

“I’m in the office by 6:30 so I can prepare the patrol areas for the shift,” Jones said. “I have an 11-year-old daughter. I’ll wake her up at 5 so I can be there when she opens her presents, and I still have time to get to work.” Her oldest daughter, who is also a Vicksburg officer, will stay with her sister while Jones is on patrol.

“My youngest daughter always asks me, ‘Why do you have to go to work?’ I tell her I have to protect other people in the city and her. She doesn’t yet understand the concept of work; that people have responsibilities.”

When she goes home at the end of her shift, Jones said, she will light the fireplace and she and her daughter will sit by the fire and pop popcorn.

Williams has three young sons, and his family will have its Christmas on Christmas Eve.

“You try to spend time you can with your family, and you have family members who come in from out of town and you don’t have a lot time to spend with them, because you’re on duty. You’re in and out,” he said.

Haynes has no family here. A Chicago native, his parents, who are also police officers, live in Chicago, and his 6-year-old daughter lives in Houston, Texas.

“My daughter can’t understand why I’m here,” he said. “She’s at that age when she wants to be close to daddy, and she wants to know why he can’t go see her for the holiday, and I have to explain it to her.

“I tell her I’m like Superman, I have to go out and protect the people and make sure their safe. She understands somewhat when I tell her Superman,” he said. “Most of my time with my family will be spent on Skype talking with them or on Facebook.”

“I’ll go home, feed my bloodhound and call my daddy,” Kennedy said.

When he completes his 12-hour shift, Emery will go home, and spend the rest of the holiday with his family.

Winchester’s situation is different.

“As the detective on duty, I’m on call for 24 hours,” he said. “Part of my job is to back up the patrol officers when they go on calls and I do that during the day. But if something happens late at night I will get the call.” Even if it’s in the middle of spending time with his family.

“At the end of the day the goal is the same as during the week,” Williams said. “You stay safe and go home to your family.”