Lt. Edwaldo Wright, a veteran officer with the Greenwood Police Department, is not content observing the world from a patrol car.
"It's my nature to not just ride by and wave at people but to get out there and have one-on-one conversations with the people," says Wright, 39, who joined the department in April 1988. "You can't read people's minds by just driving by."
The sincerity of that personal approach to policing has won him the hearts of the law-abiding public as well as respect from the community's criminal element.
Wright is a rare breed, says Julian Walls, his cousin who owns Walls Detail Shop, where Wright sells clothing on his off days.
"He walks in his own brand of dignity nowadays, which is tough in the position that he's in," Walls said. "He's honest and God-fearing, and you can't help but respect that. You don't find many people who talk the talk and walk the walk."
Wright has always been a man on the move. A star running back at Vaiden High School and later at Holmes Community College, he long dreamed of a professional football career.
But a college professor at Southeast Missouri State University, where he graduated, inspired him to turn his athletic prowess to law enforcement.
Known as "Big 'Do" on the streets he works and in the parks where he breaks up obvious drug deals and gambling rings, Wright is tough on Greenwood's troubled youth, but he doesn't forsake them.
"Even the ones getting in trouble, I care about them," he said. "If you don't care about the ones getting in trouble, then why worry about the people doing good?"
Wright speaks for the Police Department when he goes to the weight room, the barber shop or ball games, encouraging the public not to hesitate contacting him or other officers for any help. He was named the city's officer of the year in 1995 and has been recognized for his community involvement many times since then, most recently by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
A man of deep faith himself, Wright attends Cruger First Apostolic Faith Church, founded by his grandmother. "I make sure that my church plays a major role in my attitude toward people," he said.
