Downtown residents and merchants gathered Thursday to take a stand against crime and express concerns to police.

About 30 people were at the Old Court House Museum for the inaugural meeting of the Downtown Vicksburg Neighborhood Watch, which will be a valuable tool in reducing crime in the area, police Chief Walter Armstrong said.

“There’s no way possible that we can be everywhere when crime occurs, so we have to rely on the citizens,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong encouraged residents to call 911 anytime they spot suspicious activity, but several people expressed concern over calling 911 frequently.

Becki Bolm occasionally hears gunfire behind her home on Fort Hill Drive but doesn’t call 911. She said she felt calling 911 would be a waste of time because the shooters fire into the air and are gone before police can arrive.

Even if suspicious activity seems trivial at the time, it should be reported, Capt. Davey Barnett said.

“We would rather go to nothing a thousand times than go to something serious once,” Barnett said.

When reporting a crime or suspicious activity, it’s important to provide police with as much pertinent information as possible without getting into danger, said community resource officer Angela Turner.

“You have a few seconds to focus and get some details,” Turner said.

Nelda Sampey said belongings have been stolen from her home on Main Street multiple times, but investigators never followed up with her. Armstrong promised Sampey she would hear from detectives about her cases.

“We try to keep in contact with the victims, even if it’s just to let them know how the case is doing,” Armstrong said.

The officer who responded to the burglaries didn’t take fingerprints either, Sampey said.

Fingerprints and other physical evidence can be useful tools for solving crimes, but the process is not as simple as it is on television crime shows, Barnett said.

“‘CSI’ is great entertainment. So was ‘Star Trek,’ but we can’t teleport people yet. There’s no replacement for old-fashioned policing,” Barnett said. “That’s what neighborhood watch is, a return to old-fashioned values.”