By day the City of Natchez is a serene, beautiful place. It’s a place where visitors from all over the world come for a visit.

And a few weeks ago, Natchez by night didn’t seem all that different. In fact, sometimes the dim light provided an even more picturesque view of the historic city.

Lately, however, with the onset of darkness comes a growing fear of a month-long rash of home burglaries.

The fear is visible.

More porch lights are on all night.

The fear is audible.

Just listen to almost any conversation long enough in public and its bound to come up.

More than half a dozen houses have been broken into while the inhabitants are asleep.

Fortunately, the criminal hasn’t directly tried to hurt anyone, at least not yet.

But, unfortunately, someone has already been killed because of this spree. Deborah Mizell was shot and killed accidentally earlier this month. Days before, the Mizell’s neighbor had been burglarized and the thief left signs that he planned on hitting the Mizells next.

Natchez Police say they’re working the case, but as of yet don’t seem to have firm evidence pointing to any one in particular. A name has popped up here and there, but no arrests.

While we trust that the NPD is working as hard as it can on these break-ins, perhaps it’s time to call in the cavalry and seek some additional outside help to find this person or persons and put an end to it.

If the perpetrator isn’t stopped soon, someone else is going to get hurt.

Natchez leaders need to rally as many resources as is necessary to take back the night from the criminal element and return the peace and serenity to our fair city.