NATCHEZ, Miss. — City officials are considering whether to close convenience stores near Cathedral School because criminal activities there have become a “public nuisance.”
Prompted by a shooting last week at the store by the Martin Luther King Street campus, the Natchez Board of Aldermen on Tuesday directed its attorney to look into what steps could be taken to curb crime in the area. Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said illegal activities there — such as outdoor drinking, drug dealing and prostitution — have “been an ongoing problem for many years.”
Alderman Valencia Hall noted there have been several shootings in that area of north Natchez. “Enough is enough….We’ve got to put a stop to this crime,” said Hall, who noted her nephew was shot and killed several years ago.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the mayor and aldermen, they zeroed in on the Shop and Save convenience store at MLK and Aldrich streets and the nearby Zipy store on MLK, where the mayor said crimes occur “under the noses of their business owners.” He said the stores have become “24-hour unregulated bars.”
Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong said the crime rate for that area is “very disturbing,” and he insisted store operators do more to help police ensure the area is safe. He and Gibson said the businesses should hire private security guards, install crime cameras, improve outdoor lighting and report to police any suspected illegal activities on their premises.
Cathedral lead administrator Norm Yvon and St. Mary Basilica assistant pastor Mark Shoffner urged city officials Tuesday to take steps to stifle the criminal activities occurring near the 600-student Catholic school.
The Board of Aldermen voted to get city attorney Brian Callaway to work with Armstrong in developing recommendations on what aldermen can do, which includes whether the stores can be officially declared public nuisances and forced to close.
Callaway noted the city ordinance prohibits stores from selling alcoholic beverages within 200 yards of schools between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. If enforced, loss sales could put Shop and Save out of business operating across the street from Cathedral.
Cathedral parents and administrators have expressed their crime worries to city officials in the past. In 2017, for example, they requested a manned Natchez police car be posted by the campus during peak school-day periods to deter lawbreakers.
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