Eunice residents challenged to form neighborhood watches

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Law enforcement asks for community help
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If anyone was expecting an armchair solution to curb crime in Eunice, they didn’t find it at a community meeting at the Liberty Theater.
About 100 people attended the meeting sparked by the fatal shooting of Scott Daville, 56, on Dec. 27 as he interrupted the burglary of his pickup truck in the 700 block of Juanita.
In early January, Sgt. Alex Andrus of the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office, started the Eunice Community Watch page on Facebook. After about two weeks, the group has more than 2,300 members.
The goal is to bring the community together, he said. And the point of Thursday’s meeting was to encourage people to start neighborhood watch groups.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, said, “The neighborhood watch is very important for you and it helps us.”
There are seven groups in the parish from Krotz Springs to south Opelousas to Grand Prairie, he said.
“And now we are going to be in Eunice,” he added.
Community watch group members provide their addresses, email addresses and phone numbers to be placed in a database, he said.
“When we get complaints about suspicious activity ... I personally send you an email,” Guidroz said.
“I will send you an email telling you beware because we have some break-ins, we have people pulling on door knobs wanting to get into your vehicle ...,” he said.
“You are the eyes and ears. We need you to help us,” he said.
Guidroz stressed it is the public reporting tips that helps prevent and solve crime.
“You don’t have to give your name, phone number or address, but we want the information,” he said.
Sgt. Ashley Boudreaux serves as the liaison for neighborhood watch groups and the sheriff’s office.
The groups organize with a captain and are effective by staying active.
Fifteen years ago watch groups were active in Eunice, but today there is none, she said.
Signs are placed in watch group areas, but Boudreaux repeated the point that neighbors need to be active.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff Deputy Chief Eddie Thibodeaux, who serves as the St. Landry Crime Stopper coordinator, said if the public has a tip about an ongoing crime they need to call 911. or, in Eunice, police at 337-457-2626.
Someone with a tip about a crime should call Crime Stoppers at 337-948-8477 or obtain the mobile app P3 that may be used nationwide.
He urged people to use the Crime Stoppers numbers or the P3 app to report tips rather than posting them on Facebook.
And, he urged people starting watch groups with, “Don’t let the thing start in two months and stop doing it.”
Thibodeaux pledged a law enforcement official, when notified, would attend watch meetings.
Anyone wanting to set up a watch meeting is asked to contact Thibodeaux at 337-457-4115 or Boudreaux at 337-948-6516. Or, contact Eunice Police at 337-457-2626.
Eunice City Marshal Terry Darbonne said, “We have a problem in our city just like any other city around.”
Darbonne said he hears people saying they are going to move because of crime in their neighborhood.
“Well, where are you going to move?” he asked.
Darbonne said people can take control of their neighborhoods and said people reporting suspicious activity to police will help.
“We want to go over there and identify who is out there,” he said.
Darbonne said his deputies, police and sheriff’s deputies are putting a plan in motion.
“Pretty soon you will be seeing lot neighborhoods with police officer in them. So, if you look outside you might see a car creeping along that has no lights on,” he said. “Chances are it is a police officer. If you are not sure, pick up a phone.”
Darbonne repeated that police are not looking at Facebook for live crime tips.
“We can’t be everywhere. If you see something, you hear something, pick up the phone. Give us a call because we are gong to make Eunice a safer place to live,” he said.
Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot said the city has always had its share of crime, but social media has changed the pace of its reporting.
“What’s happening today is you find out about those crimes a lot faster than you did 35 years ago,” he said. “Now, you find out about it instantly when it happens. It is good and then it is kind of bad because you hear about more crime than you did 35 years ago.”
Neighborhood watch groups were active in Eunice in the 1980s, he said.
The programs started with excitement and then over time faded away, he said.
“We need to keep those neighborhood watch programs alive. It is good to know your neighbors,” he said.
There is a neighborhood watch in his neighborhood that keeps in touch through text messaging, he said.
Like the other speakers, Fontenot asked the public to report suspicious activity with a phone call to police, not text messaging, email or on Facebook.
“If you have an emergency the best thing to do is call the police department or 911,” he said.
Mayor Scott Fontenot said, “It takes a village and this is our village right here. It is everybody in this room.”
Law enforcement officers are “fired up” and it is time for the citizens to take their community back.
“We’ve got to clean this city,” he said.
The groups that form should stay committed, he added.
St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Lt. James Bergeron asked businesses or residents with surveillance cameras to list them with his office. After the Juanita street shooting, a police detective went door-to-door to find out if people had video of the area. A log of cameras in the would save law enforcement time, he said. He asked that surveillance camera owners call him at 337-457-4115 to put their name on the list. The list will only be used the law enforcement, he said.
Thibodeaux urged people to keep a secure record of the serial numbers of their values.
While urging people to lock their vehicles, he noted, “Your vehicle is not a gun safe.”