NATCHEZ — Even though he didn’t go through the police academy or take an official oath, Elwood Black protects and serves Winchester Road as part of his duties as Neighborhood Watch captain.

So when The Dart landed at Black’s house on Winchester Road Friday afternoon, he and his wife, Carol, were hard at work — sitting on the side porch of their house and keeping an eye on the busy street.

Elwood is part of the larger Duncan Park Neighborhood Watch program that was established last year.

The program consists of 10 block captains that gather and report information from the residents on his or her street.

Each captain stays in constant communication with one another through the group’s Facebook page or at their monthly meeting at the Natchez Police Department.

Elwood said speeding drivers and loud music mainly troubled his neighborhood, at the intersection of Winchester Road and Magnolia Place — until a few weeks ago.

“They had a break in down the street, which was a big shock to everyone,” Elwood said. “They did it in the middle of the day. We’ve been keeping an extra eye out after that.”

Thankfully, Elwood said he’s never had to call the police for any activity on his street and hopes it stays that way.

“It’s a nice and quiet neighborhood, but you never know,” Elwood said. “We just try and let people know that if they see anything suspicious to contact me or the police.”

Elwood attributes the safety and peacefulness of the neighborhood to the watch program, but also to Natchez Interim Police Chief Danny White, who serves as the neighborhood watch operational manager.

“Since he’s taken over as chief, we’ve seen a lot more police cars patrolling the area,” Elwood said. “He’s always at the meetings and is just a really nice guy.”

Apart from the police department and other residents of the neighborhood, Elwood said he tries to keep as many eyes on the neighborhood as possible.

“I asked the mailman that comes through here to let me know if he ever sees anything suspicious,” Elwood said. “When he delivered the mail today, he told me there was a lady that stopped and was looking around a house that was vacant.”

When they’re not sitting outside their house patrolling the area, the retired couple said they enjoy traveling the country.

“We do a lot of traveling since we retired,” Carol said. “We’ve been to San Antonio twice. The river walk down there is just great and the Alamo.”

With the summer months approaching fast, Elwood and Carol said they are in the process of planning their next trip, but deciding where to go isn’t as easy as it sounds.

“We were talking about going to Charleston, S.C., or Massachusetts,” Elwood said. “But I know my wife wants to go back to San Antonio, so that’s probably where we’ll go.”