LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) – With crime rising in Downtown Lafayette, law enforcement have several plans to keep the community safe.
The crime-rate in Downtown Lafayette has risen noticeably for people in the area. A new police precinct will be opening up soon in the Rosa Parks building, but the Lafayette Police Department has shared other plans on how to take out the crime that’s occurring.
Sergeant Robin Green with Lafayette Police says the community is the main concern. “We want everybody in the community to feel safe. Especially in the downtown area. We have more patrol. In the summertime, we have additional officers on patrol because school is out and we relocate our school resource officers and we have them working during peak hours.”
Peak hours are the hours known for an increase in the emergency call load. In order to keep up with the activity increase, the department has applied surveillance measures all around the area. “You know we have added more cameras, additional cameras, in the city and especially in the downtown area as well. So what we want to happen is with more police presence we are hoping that it will help deter more criminal activity within the community,” says sgt. Green.
Multiple agencies in the area are taking responsibility for helping keep the activity from increasing further like City Marshals working off duty security and the Sheriff’s Department patrolling the downtown perimeter.
“By doing that and all coming together, this is something that we are doing to try to keep that area safe during those peak hours which is in the evening time,” says sgt. Green.
With these blueprints in place, on top of the new precinct opening up soon, Downtown Lafayette has a chance to become safer for the residents looking to enjoy the festivities included in the area.
