Arp back at it with stunt Wednesday

Published 1:11 pm Monday, September 28, 2015

Vicksburg’s zaniest crime fighter is up to his old antics again.

Retired Vicksburg police Sgt. Doug Arp’s annual stunt — themed this year as “Let’s Get This Horse Trash of Crime Out of Town” — is set for noon Wednesday in the parking lot of Kroger.

Though he’s taken a limited role the past few years because of ailing health, Arp plans to live in a Dumpster for a five days.

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“It’s a little unusual but that’s what it’s supposed to be,” Arp said.

The Waste Management Dumpster was to be delivered Monday.

“They’re getting a brand new one,” Arp said. “Waste Management wants an absolutely perfect one.”

For more than 25 years, Arp has been using his wacky stunts to raise awareness for National Night Out, the nation’s largest anti-crime block party. National Night Out helps build a sense of community, Arp said.

“People just see police officers when their house gets broken into or when they get stopped for a ticket. That’s not a really good time to make friends and show they are just like you are,” he said.

Over the years Arp’s antics have won national awards and been featured coast-to-coast.

He’s lived for weeks at a time in a fountain, on top of a billboard, in a hot air balloon among other wacky places.

“The more strange things you do, the more people are interested. Somebody meeting somebody there might make a difference. The more people you know, the more people who will look out after you,” Arp said.

When Arp was on the police department, he would do the stunt every year on his vacation.

“I’ve never taken a dime for anything I’ve ever done for National Night Out,”

Though most areas of the country celebrate National Night Out in August, several states including Mississippi have moved the night against crime to Oct. 6, the day after Arp’s stunt wraps up.

Rain is in the forecast for Wednesday, though Arp hopes for a good-sized crowd.

“Come by and honk or wave,” Arp said. “If it’s raining, come just sit in your car.” Guest speakers at the event will be Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice William “Bill” Waller Jr. and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves.