Adams County and particularly Natchez have experienced a spate of violent crime in recent years, most notably in 2018 when Natchez had 12 murders and Adams County had two.

Most of those murders were retaliatory in nature among a group of warring Natchez neighborhood groups.

While many of those Natchez murders have not yet been solved, the violence has decreased since 2018.

Natchez Police Department and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office have teamed up to help put a damper on the crime by working to have surveillance cameras installed in high crime areas of town and by sharing information between the agencies.

Adams County Sheriff’s Office, under the leadership of Travis Patten, has implemented a special operations team to help curtail and solve crimes in the city.

Those efforts seem to be having an effect by reducing crime and leading to swift arrests in many recent incidents, especially in the county.

Patten has two independent challengers this year for the position he has held since 2016, Adam Kirk and Brian Seyfarth. Both challengers have good law enforcement experience and are good candidates.

Critics point to the crime wave as evidence of Patten’s ineffectiveness in office, but the sheriff’s office can only do so much in the City of Natchez, which is the primary jurisdiction and responsibility of the Natchez Police Department.

The sheriff’s office has assisted in many investigations in the city. Outside of the city, county crime rates are relatively low and suspects are often apprehended quickly.

While we admire, Kirk and Seyfarth, we see no need to switch horses in midstream.

Much has been accomplished under Sheriff Travis Patten and we believe he can accomplish more in the next four years.

Therefore, we endorse Patten for reelection.