After living in Mississippi for a long while, it becomes apparent how the firm majority of people here hold a certain set of beliefs and values, of which they will not let go. In some cases, this is an endearing thing, but in others, it perpetuates a flawed system.
I believe the views of the police force here, in this state, namely the general acceptance of them all being heroes by default, are promoting the kind of incompetence, brutality and brashness we see in police forces all over Mississippi.
Starkville may well be different, considering its status as a college town, but those of us who come from one of the many small towns around the state know of the levels of unquestioned respect their people have for those in uniform. While I am certainly not saying police are unworthy of respect, I am saying there is a sizable chunk of them who display at best an average moral compass.
Worse still, there are quite a few who abuse their power on a regular basis, and are lauded as paragons of the community anyway. Simply put, there is a double standard for police in Mississippi, and it has created a situation unique even to the other instances of power abuse among lawmen in other states.
Being an officer of the law should require a much higher moral code than the average person and constant accountability. Overall, I do not see that in our state’s police. 
To help illustrate the different standards police officers are held to, I will first point to a situation which happened in Lumberton earlier in the year. Their police chief at the time, Shane Flynt, was seen on a video he had recorded of himself smoking what was all but confirmed to be cannabis. Lici Beveridge for the Hattiesburg American stated, “In the video, Flynt laughed about being police chief using vulgar language and a broken pipe. His chief uniform can be seen hanging in the background while Christmas music plays.” His arrogance was completely evident in the video, which exemplified the type of attitude I have personally seen a wealth of police officers have, one of invincibility.
He was eventually “reclassified” as a normal officer months later, but still remains on the force to this day as far as I am aware. He got away with the bare minimum of punishment, when most citizens in his town would have been fined hundreds of dollars, had their driver’s license taken away from them and possibly jailed over the same crime. We are kidding ourselves if we think this kind of thing does not happen in many towns just like Lumberton. If the public does not learn about it, the officers usually are not punished in the least.
This needs to change. 
In another instance back in May, two officers in my own hometown of Laurel, chased down a fleeing suspect, James Barnett, and beat him badly. According to Josiah Bates for ABC News, “Police told Barnett to get down on the ground and when he did, they began kicking him, Barnett said to ABC News. Barnett also claimed that he never fought back. The police then transported him to the South Central Regional Medical Center, where he was beaten more, Barnett claimed.” The officers in question, Wade Robinson and Bryce Gilbert, were appropriately fired for these actions, according to the Associated Press for The Clarion Ledger.
However, as someone who has been associated with the city of Laurel for years, I know firsthand there are many more police officers there who display racism and a complete lack of respect for those they are arresting. I have witnessed, heard of and even been involved in their victimization of people and abuse of power. This is yet another example of consequences only being enforced when the public demands it.
The two fired police officers are still friends with many people I know in Laurel, and are likely facing no social repercussions for ganging up on a man and beating him bloody. People in my town will not even discuss these kinds of actions because it contradicts their values.
These are just two examples of many I could use to show the problem we have in Mississippi. This point would be better made with a longer piece, but I believe this is enough to bring awareness. So, the next time you see a police officer pass you going 20 over without his lights on, or you hear of someone beating people on the side of the road, just know it is because they are not held to the same standard.