Shreveport Police Dept.

Date: October 19, 2006

Phone: 318/673-6932 Fax: 318/673-6933

Contact: Kacee Hargrave, Public Information Officer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Armed Robbery Task Force

While shoppers will be out in full force this holiday season, Chief of Police Mike Campbell wants residents to know that police officers will be as well.

The Shreveport Police Department is budgeted to spend $57,000 to combat robbery and make the holidays safer for citizens. About $25,000 of that money was budgeted to the police department by the Shreveport City Council. Another $27,000 will come from grant money received by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement. The money covers overtime costs of officers who will address robbery-related crimes.

So far this year, robberies of businesses are down 19 percent and overall robberies are down 8 percent.

This task force follows a successful operation that was conducted last holiday season in which business robberies in the month of December fell 29 percent over the previous December and overall business robberies went down 44 percent for the year.

Last year, the Armed Robbery Task Force conducted more than 60 surveillance operations of businesses in targeted areas and developed some 20 possible suspects in robbery-related crimes. More than a dozen robbers were arrested.

Officers also visited businesses and had meetings with citizens to discuss robbery prevention and what to do in case of a robbery. See the attached list for some helpful tips on preventing citizens and businesses from being robbed

-spd-

View all SPD press releases at www.ci.shreveport.la.us/dept/police/spdnews