by DAVID HAMILTON

NATCHEZ — On his first official day of duty, newly appointed Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong and other local law enforcement officers will set out today to achieve one of Armstrong’s main goals: embracing the community.

Participating in the annual National Night Out, officers from the Natchez, Vidalia, and Ferriday police departments and deputies from the Adams County and Concordia Parish sheriff’s offices will visit different areas of Natchez, Vidalia and Ferriday. Officers will spend 10-30 minutes at the various locations.

National Night Out began in 1984 as an effort to encourage crime-preventing strategies and collaboration between law enforcement and the community. Armstrong said Monday that the community has a vital role in the success of a law enforcement agency.

“(National Night Out) gives law enforcement an opportunity to interact with the local citizens and bring attention to all kinds of crimes,” Armstrong said. “We want to make (citizens) aware of it and let them know that we need their input to make the community better.

“I’m soliciting all opportunities to meet with the communities, get to know them. My door is always open.”

Part of the National Night Out will include visits to neighborhood watch groups, which Armstrong called “extremely effective” crime-prevention measures.

National Night Out will commence at approximately 2:30 p.m., when law enforcement officers are scheduled to depart from the Natchez Police Department and head to the Ferriday Police Department. Officers will then visit Haney’s Big House — the lone stop in Ferriday — from 2:55 to 3:05 p.m.

The caravan will proceed to the Vidalia Police Department and Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office, making stops at Delta Bank at 3:15 p.m. and the Resource Center located at 103 Fourth St. at 3:35 p.m.

The remaining stops will take place in Natchez and Adams County as follows:

• Providence Ballpark at 4 p.m.
• Montebello neighborhood watch at 4:25 p.m.
• Westover Heights neighborhood watch at 4:45 p.m.
• Cambridge Heights neighborhood watch at 5:10 p.m.
• Broadmoor neighborhood watch at 5:35 p.m.
• West Stiers Lane at 5:55 p.m.
• Morgantown 6 p.m.
• Minor Street at 6:20 p.m., and
• Woodlawn neighborhood watch at 6:45 p.m.
• Sibley at 7 p.m. at Mount Olive Baptist Church
• Kingston at 7:30 p.m. at the volunteer fire station