Letter To The Editor

I have been a resident of Batesville for 20 years and Panola County all my life. My home is on Lester Street and I reside across from the big church downtown. Law enforcement in this area, Patton Lane area, James Subdivision, Tubbs Road and Hoskins Road, needs to be monitored seriously.

I try my best to be a law abiding citizen every day. A lot of other people in these areas have the same attitude. These are majority black neighborhoods. For every one black person that is breaking the law, there are probably 75 or 100 black people who are not.

I know the police have  a job to do. I respect that and I respect them.

They are overdoing it in these areas. For example, I was once stopped for a seat belt violation.

 Okay. I broke the law. I’m not complaining about that. Give me the ticket for no seat belt and ask me for my license and insurance card. The officer did a massive search inside my car for drugs.

That’s wrong. This goes on every day. I think the veteran officers like Paul Shivers, Clyde Estridge, Ms. Ruby and Tony Jones need to sit the younger officers down and give them a talk. Tell them to stop  overpolicing.

We don’t want them to disappear, but leave the innocent citizens alone.

S/ Bobby Bradford