Heat of The Night Review

I thought that In the Heat of the Night had some very interesting aspects as a cop movie. One thing that immediately struck me was how Virgil was dressed as a wealthy business man, but was just a cop. I understand that a police officer in Philly might make more money than one in Sparta, Mississippi, but I don't think that it would put them in a completely different social class. I believe this was done to show that even though Virgil was a superior police officer to any of the local officers, they still mistreated him simply because he was black.
One other thing I noticed about the film was that with the exception of the wife of the man who was murdered, basically every other white person was portrayed in a way that made them appear unintelligent. I realize that there is a difference between being racist and stupid, but the movie rarely differentiated between the 2. The only man who did seem somewhat smart was Endicott because he was a wealthy farm-owner.
I also found it somewhat funny that Virgil did not identify himself as a police officer until he was in the middle of being interrogated by Gillespie. It might have saved him a trip to jail if he showed his badge once he was approached by officer Wood.