A combined operation between Natchez police and Adams County Sheriff’s Office Deputies should not have been a big deal.

Law enforcement agencies across the country work together on such combined missions on a daily basis.

But the roundup of approximately a dozen suspects was a big deal in Natchez-Adams County.

No international criminals were detained and no huge mysteries solved through the arrests. It was just the routine work of rounding up suspected bad guys that is done to keep our area safe.

The joint operation, dubbed Operation United Front, was important merely because it signals a change in how our top law enforcement officers view themselves and others.

Throughout the years personality conflicts of various police chiefs and sheriffs allowed personal agendas and politics take precedent over common sense.

On a number of occasions the disagreements and quiet disputes between the agencies have led to animosity between both law enforcement personnel and the public.

In a community our size, at the very least, we need both agencies to work closely together to fight crime. Ideally, we would have a single, well-equipped and well-funded law enforcement agency that handled the needs of the Natchez-Adams County community without regard for the municipal border.

Last week’s operation was a great start, and one we hope to see more of in the future. We offer our thanks to Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten and his crew and Natchez Police Chief Daniel White and his staff for working together to make our community better.