NATCHEZ — Criminals considering a visit to Duncan Park now have an extra set of eyes watching their every move.

Natchez residents Rod and Cheri Sommer established the Duncan Park Neighborhood Watch in July. The Sommers moved to Natchez almost two years ago after visiting their children who live in town.

“We loved the area, so we retired and moved here,” Rod said.

Cheri said she began thinking about joining the neighborhood watch after reading about burglaries and other crime in the newspaper. She said she was surprised to find out from Capt. Daniel White at the Natchez Police Department that Duncan Park did not have a neighborhood watch.

Cheri said she and her husband posted and passed out 287 fliers to get the word out about getting a Duncan Park neighborhood watch together.

“I wanted to be proactive,” she said. “The Lord gives us all good things, and it’s up to us to take care of the those things.”

Cheri said the first meeting was in July and, at last count, there were 70 members of the Duncan Park Neighborhood Watch. The Sommers recently handed the reigns over to fellow Duncan Park resident Priester Byrne.

Byrne is the coordinator of the neighborhood watch. He said there are 10 block captains that gather reports and information from the residents on his or her street and report back to him. Byrne relays the concerns and information to the group via the watch’s Facebook page and at the monthly meetings with White, the NPD neighborhood watch operational manager, who attends watch meetings after hours.

White said he sets up neighborhood watches around town. He said he talks with the people in the community about problems in the neighborhood and informs them on what they need to do to have an effective neighborhood watch.

“It’s about getting together with the people in the community and seeing what it’s going to take to make a better neighborhood.”

Byrne said neighborhood watch members are also putting trail cameras on their property for an extra tool to watch the neighborhood.

“If people come through Duncan Park neighborhood, we have eyes on them almost 24 hours a day,” he said.

White said the Duncan Park neighborhood watch has aided the police department in gathering evidence and suspect descriptions that led to several arrests, including the car burglaries that happened this week.

Byrne said speeding and loud music are common complaints from neighborhood watch members. He said the neighborhood watch also addresses issues such as abandoned houses.

White said there are eight neighborhood watches in Natchez. He said sometimes watch participation drops off after residents clean their neighborhoods, which leads to criminals coming back into the neighborhood.

“It’s a lot of work, but you got to do what you got to do,” he said.

Rod Sommer said the watch has allowed Duncan Park residents to get to know neighbors they had never even met. He said the residents share a love for Natchez

“We love this town and we certainly love our neighborhood,” Rod said. “We want Natchez to succeed and we want our neighborhood to be successful. We see this as a means to grow, strengthen and protect the neighborhood.”

Cheri said she hopes all Natchez neighborhoods start neighborhood watches.

“I definitely think we come together and stop criminals from taking over.”