The Vicksburg Police Department needs help.

That was the message from Chief Walter Armstrong Monday night as he addressed about 15 people gathered for the first in a series of Town Watch Meetings the department has planned across the city.

“We need more cooperation between the police department and the community,” he said at Greater Grove Street M.B. Church. “The police can’t be everywhere at one time, and that’s where you come in.”

The meeting is the first of four planned by the police department; the other three have not been set.

Armstrong said the city’s biggest problem is crimes against property, calling home and car burglaries a plague in the city.

Since July 1, police have investigated about 78 home and auto burglaries in the city. Thirty-six of those break-ins have occurred since Aug. 1.

The biggest contributing factor to auto burglaries and car thefts, he said, is unlocked car doors.

“People don’t lock their cars, and criminals are looking for opportunities,” he said. “They’re looking for cars that are unlocked. If they try to break into a locked car, they have to break a window, and that creates a crime scene or sets off an alarm.”

During his comments, Armstrong showed security camera photographs from two recent crimes.

One was from the Aug. 4 armed robbery of the Waffle House at 2455 N. Frontage Road. The robbery was one of three that occurred in a span of about two hours. Also robbed were the KFC, 2915 Clay St., and a man riding his bike near Army Navy Drive and Confederate Avenue.

The chief said investigators believe one man is responsible for all three robberies because they found something at the scene of one of the robberies that was stolen in one of the others. They also believe the man is from Vicksburg because of the location of the robberies, Armstrong said, though no arrest has been made.

“This man is still out there and someone will recognize him,” he said. “You can’t say, ‘It wasn’t me,’ or ‘I can’t get involved,’ because you may be next.”

Armstrong also showed a security camera photograph of a man suspected in auto burglaries at the Grand Station Hotel and Casino.

“Back in the day, everybody had a nosey neighbor, that person who knew everything that went on in the neighborhood,” said Sgt. Beverly Prentiss. “We’re asking you to be nosey neighbors.”

“You can call us or get on our Facebook page,” Armstrong said. “We are part of CrimeStoppers. You can call CrimeStoppers and report a crime and you don’t have to give your name. No bit of information is too small.

“I was glad they had this meeting,” Grove Street resident Robyn Gordon said. “It was very informative. I just wish more people were here.”

Armstrong said after the meeting that the department did its best to advertise the meeting.

“This was the first one, and I’m sure we’ll do better with the next one,” he said. “It was a good meeting. The people were receptive to what we had to say.”