NATCHEZ — You can’t just arrest your way out of a problem. It takes a village to stop a crime.

That was the police chief’s message and the consensus of the board of aldermen at Tuesday’s meeting.

Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said residents of neighborhoods near Woodlawn Avenue had approached her concerned about loitering and other possible criminal activity in the area.

Youth from other areas were walking the streets at 1 a.m. and leaving debris from food, she said.

Mathis asked Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins if there was a way to increase patrols or create a sub-station in the area.

Mullins said his officers had been patrolling the area as much as possible.

Since his department was short-staffed and working overtime, substations wouldn’t be feasible right now, Mullins said. In addition, the problem was broader than would be fixed by simply increasing patrols.

“Crime is a symptom of other problems,” Mullins said. “It’s about parenting, education and economics. We can’t arrest our way out of a situation.”

Police could arrest everyone causing problems, and in a year or so, things would be right back to the way they were, Mullins said.

“That’s why we need community policing,” he said. “It takes a lot of community involvement.”

Mathis asked Mayor Phillip West to arrange a meeting with police, department heads, residents and other interested parties. The aim of the meeting would be to plan how to attack the problem.

Aldermen Theodore “Bubber” West agreed they needed a long-term solution.

“This problem has existed for a long time,” West said. “We have found that policing cleans it up for a while, but then you’re just displacing it.”

The solution would be to take small bites at a time, Mullins said.

Once a plan was devised, it would be important to follow through and not to just let the issue drop, Mathis said.

Mayor West said he would arrange a meeting to discuss the issue.