Eight years ago when he walked to a microphone for the first time as Vicksburg’s new mayor, Laurence Leyens opened his remarks by crediting the then-quantifiable disarray of the Vicksburg Police Department as the prime reason he was elected.

Now, another mayoral election is upon us and effective law enforcement is once again being positioned as a key topic — which it should be.

Context, however, is important.

In 2001, the VPD was on its fifth or sixth chief in five or six years. There were more than 100 officers and more than half of them were in the upper ranks. A lot of supervisors for not-so-many workers. Several lawsuits were pending accusing officers of abject misconduct. The district attorney said he wasn’t getting case files on which to base legal, credible prosecutions. At night, parts of Vicksburg were taken over by thugs and the police seemed powerless or indifferent.

A few months into his term, Leyens, who had pledged Vicksburg would have the highest-paid officers in Mississippi, was joined by the aldermen in appointing Tommy Moffett, formerly chief in Biloxi. Moffett, a career law enforcement officer, was given carte blanche — all the money and backing he needed to build a model department.

There have been scandals since — two officers involved sexually with a high school student and a third now serving time for taking a drug payoff — and there has been a steady number of burglaries, robberies and assaults. Many crimes have been quickly and professionally solved. Several open cases linger. There are fewer officers and efforts to recruit and maintain a complement of 85, determined to be the right number for the community, have not met with complete success.

It is natural and to be expected that performance of all city departments gets batted around when any election approaches. It’s the sweeping statements about “total failure” or “complete chaos” that are way out of line. Objectively, Vicksburg police are more professional, better equipped and better trained than ever. The department is not yet hitting on all cylinders, but it is hitting on more than it was.

Voters will decide whether Leyens has kept his pledge sufficiently or whether they think his rival, Democratic nominee Paul Winfield, can do a better job. The decision about police performance should be made in a nonpolitical perspective. Officers who work diligently and effectively merit an objective evaluation.