NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) - The city of Natchez will soon begin a search to replace its police chief, who is planning to retire by January 2021.
Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson made the announcement of Police Chief Walter Armstrong’s impending retirement during a Facebook live video post last week.
Armstrong, 59, said he doesn’t have a set date for his retirement but he decided in early 2019 that he would likely retire by the end of 2020. He said he plans to continue to work in some law enforcement capacity after his retirement but does not have definite plans yet.
“There comes a time when we have to make a decision on when to end a career,” Armstrong said. “It is a good time to call it quits and move on to something else.”
Armstrong said he has had several meetings with Gibson to discuss hiring his replacement and that he offered to work with both Gibson and the new chief on the transition.
“We are so proud of Chief Armstrong and over the last three years he has done a stellar job of coming in to Natchez and making various improvements in our department and making a genuine rapport with the citizens of Natchez,” Gibson told The Natchez Democrat. “When I got elected mayor Chief Armstrong privately informed me that he was planning to retire soon and I pleaded with him to stick around to please allow me to get my feet wet and get them on the ground and he agreed to.”
Armstrong’s law enforcement career began in 1984, when he joined Mississippi state police at age 23. After 25 years of service, he retired in June 2009 and became police chief for the City of Vicksburg. After his eight-year stint there, he became chief in Natchez in 2017.
Now, he said he’s “ready to step aside from the career.”
“Being in law enforcement was a childhood dream of mine. I wanted to make a difference,” Armstrong said.
Accomplishments during his tenure in Natchez include getting the starting wage up from $12.19 an hour to $15.50, acquiring body cameras for officers, obtaining fire arms through a federal program at no cost to the city, and having crime cameras placed in strategic points throughout the city.
Gibson said the hiring process will formally begin at the next meeting of the Board of Aldermen.
“We are letting everyone know that in September at our first board meeting we will be starting the process for a search for a new chief to take his place and the reason we are doing this now is to allow ourselves a good three months to do this process, to do it properly and get good candidates,” Gibson said.
He added that the process would have the input of the current chief and “ensure the transition at the end of the year will be a smooth one.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.