Shreveport Police Dept.

Date: Oct. 25, 2007

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

Contact: Kacee Hargrave, Public Information Officer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Two new initiatives being launched to combat crime

Mayor Cedric Glover and Chief of Police Henry Whitehorn today announced that the next step in Quality-of-Life Policing will be kicking off shortly, and citizens will notice some big changes.

This will be the second phase of Operation TBONE and is called Operation Closed Market.

Operation Closed Market will periodically put officers who are assigned duties other than patrol back on the streets to help patrol officers target problem crime areas.

In some cases, as many as 40 more officers could be deployed to fight crime at any given time. In essence, officers who are assigned to duties other than patrol will be formed into three teams, with teams occasionally being called up to assist with patrol functions. Detectives also will be paired with those officers to support them and make cases against the criminals who are arrested.

“We all became officers to improve the quality of life for our citizens,” said Chief of Police Henry Whitehorn. “We must remember that commitment as we continue to address the safety of our citizens.

“Criminals, we are watching you, and we are going to catch you and put you away for a long time,” he added.

Operation TBONE (Taking Back Our Neighborhoods Everyday) kicked off June 20. It paired Shreveport Police Community Liaison Officers with Property Standards Officers to help enforce city codes to help maintain safe and livable neighborhoods. That operation continues today and has made great strides in improving the look of communities citywide.

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Plans for Operation Closed Market will be flexible and fluid, so crimes can be addressed as needed. But one thing is for sure – citizens will be seeing a lot more officers on the streets of Shreveport.

New reward offered for illegal carrying of weapons

The second anti-crime initiative being launched today will literally pay citizens to help get guns out of the hands of criminals.

A gun abatement program called “Save Our Neighborhoods” offers rewards to people who anonymously inform the police of suspects who may be illegally carrying a weapon. It is illegal for anyone without a concealed weapon permit to carry a concealed weapon. It is also illegal for anyone who has been convicted of certain felony crimes to have possession of a firearm. If that suspect is found to be in possession of a weapon and gets arrested for it, the citizen will receive $200 for a recovered handgun or $500 for a recovered assault rifle.

The weapon in turn will be seized and taken off the streets of Shreveport. Crime Stoppers is supporting this new initiative to combat gun crimes.

“This is another in a series of steps to take back our neighborhoods,” Whitehorn said.

In addition, billboards, posters and calling cards will be printed to distribute the message that “Crime doesn’t pay, but stopping crime does!”

Tips should be called into Crime Stoppers at 673-7373 or by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at www.crimestoppersshreveportcaddo.com.

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