Pubdate: Tue, 26 Feb 2002
Source: Daily Advertiser, The (LA)
Copyright: 2002 South Louisiana Publishing
Contact:  http://www.theadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1670
Author: Marsha Sills

POLICING EFFECTIVE IN COMMUNITY

LAFAYETTE - Community policing efforts on the north end of the city are 
focusing on keeping drug dealers off the streets, Lafayette Police Chief 
Ronald Boudreaux told the Committee for Rebuild Lafayette North on Monday 
night.

Boudreaux and Capt. George Alfred gave an update on the program to the 
committee and the public at the Clifton Chenier Town Hall Building.

"We are heads and shoulders above other cities because of community 
policing," Boudreaux said.

Community policing is a method of working with agencies and citizens to 
pinpoint problems and work through resolutions.

Meetings are an important tool for the project, Alfred said. Neighborhood 
Assistance Teams, composed of representatives from law enforcement, city 
agencies and citizens, meet weekly. Neighborhood organization leaders meet 
monthly for Help Unify Bill meetings. Once the problems, ranging from 
criminal to environmental, are identified, the next step is to determine 
what can be done.

"The No. 1 complaint is drugs and there's a lot of prostitution," Alfred said.

Boudreaux said efforts have been made to curtail street drug dealing in the 
area.

Setting up special operations or patrols by the A.C.T.I.O.N. unit are 
possible solutions, but once the problem is resolved, the neighborhood 
isn't abandoned. Directed patrols maintain the area, ensuring the safety of 
the community after the resolution.

Community policing is a citywide effort that residents are responding well 
to, Alfred said.

"Most of our neighborhood people are happy," he said. "They were tired of 
going through the red tape of government."
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