Natchez aldermen and mayor interview four police chief candidates

NATCHEZ, Miss. – The mayor and Board of Aldermen interviewed four police chief candidates in sessions closed to the public Tuesday.

Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong plans to retire at the end of December. A total of 36 people applied for his job, according to Mayor Dan Gibson.

After three hours and 30 minutes meeting behind closed doors, the mayor and aldermen emerged in open session for Gibson to say no decision was made on who to appoint as the new chief. He said later an “exciting announcement” could come soon.

Prior to the board voting 5-1 to cut the public out of Monday’s interview sessions, Alderman Billie Joe Frazier alleged “backdoor politics” is “undermining” the selection process. Frazier complained that all six aldermen were not involved in winnowing the list of police chief applicants down to the four to interview.

However, Gibson said he and the board are following the usual process and the one used by aldermen last week in appointing new city Fire Chief Robert Arrington. For the police chief position, only the mayor and a committee of the Board of Aldermen selected the four finalists for the full board to interview. Of the 36 applicants, seven prospects were put forward by the three-member Natchez Civil Service Commission for the mayor and the board’s police committee.

Frazier — a former Natchez police officer — said he and the aldermen not on the police committee should’ve been allowed to interview the seven semifinalists. He angrily left Tuesday’s board meeting and did not participate in the interviews of the four finalists.

Armstrong has been Natchez police chief since 2017 and is retiring after 36 years in law enforcement that included stints as a Mississippi Highway Patrol officer and Vicksburg police chief.