CPD renews agreement with Parkway rangers
By Randy Bell
Clinton police and Natchez Trace Parkway rangers recently renewed their mutual law enforcement agreement.
Even though Natchez Trace officials refused to budge on allowing Clinton to install lights on a portion of a walking path, there is some cooperation between the two. The Clinton Police Department (CPD) has gotten approval to extend a mutual law enforcement agreement with the Parkway rangers. At its July 16 meeting, the Board of Aldermen approved a memorandum of understanding between the CPD and the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service and the Trace establishing terms and conditions under which the two agencies will provide assistance on or near the Parkway within the police department’s jurisdiction.
According to the agreement, it’s aimed at reducing response times and is intended “to promote the welfare, safety and enjoyment of Park visitors and local residents.” It allows the CPD to notify the next of kin if a Clinton resident is killed on the Parkway or if the next of kin lives in the city. The police department is authorized to assist federal investigators in the event of a Park ranger-involved shooting on the Trace, and police agree to provide the rangers with information related to any crimes committed within or against the Park.
The agreement allows rangers to provide emergency assistance outside the Park boundaries, including accidents or incidents involving a serious injury or fatality, a crime scene involving the protection of human life, an officer in trouble and threats to public health and safety. Rangers acting in this capacity without a CPD request agree to notify Clinton police as soon as possible and relinquish control of the scene upon the arrival of a CPD officer.
The two agencies also agree to cooperate in the planning of major events within the Park boundaries which may have significant impacts away from the Parkway.
“We partner really well with the Natchez Trace, the rangers who work our area,” says Police Chief Ford Hayman. “And this just gives [us] a shared jurisdiction.” But Hayman says those interactions are fairly rare. “We’ll occasionally get dispatched up on the Trace to maybe work a wreck or something, if [the rangers] are not in the immediate area and need a little help.”
For those wondering if the agreement means a Clinton police officer can write a speeding ticket on the Trace, the answer is “yes.” – but it doesn’t work the other way around.
“Occasionally, if we’re traveling back and forth [on the Trace], if we see a violation, we can take care of that, as long as it’s within our jurisdictional boundaries,” Hayman says.
But the rangers don’t have the same ticket-writing authority in Clinton. According to the chief, “They are limited to the Natchez Trace Parkway.”
