ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / January 22, 2000

LAPLACE – Saying that he is “very satisfied,” St. John Parish Sheriff Wayne Jones released the year-end crime statistics that showed a 14 percent decrease in all crimes in the parish.

“I don’t want to toot my horn,” said a pleased Jones, ” but I’m satisfied in the reduction of overall crime and also in the homicide rate.”Actually, there was no change in the homicide rate. In 1998 and 1999there were each three homicides. However, the sheriff said the rate hasgone down dramatically since he took office in 1996.

“We had at least nine murders a year when I came into office,” Jones said.

He said there are two things that have led to a decrease in homicides.

First, thanks to federal funding, he has been able to put more police officers out on the street. Right now there are between 85 and 90 officerson the streets of St. John Parish, a 25 percent increase in strength since1996.

“Visibility is a real crime deterrent,” said Chief Deputy Harold Kliebert, who put together the crime statistics.

Secondly, the sheriff and the district attorney’s office have put together a drug court, in which one day a week each district judge handles only drug cases.

“When I was in the D.A.’s office, ” said Jones, “I used to see a lot of repeatoffenders get off and I knew that was part of the crime problem.”With the drug court, repeat offenders are going to jail for a long time.

The sheriff said most of the homicides in the parish were drug-related, and once they started cleaning drugs off the streets the homicide rate fell dramatically.

“Two of the three homicides this year were the result of domestic violence,” reported the sheriff. “Only one homicide was drug-related.”Kliebert reported that all three homicides in 1999 have been solved and arrests have been made.

Of the seven major crimes reported by the Sheriff’s Office to the state and FBI, there was only one increase – in assaults with a 3 percent increase.

Kliebert said there may be several reasons for the increase.

“Someone may report a rape, but after investigation it is just an assault,” said Kliebert, “or there are people who report assaults to the Justice of the Peace that are not investigated, but they get counted anyway. But wedon’t see this as a big increase.”Here are the statistics from other reported crimes: An 80 percent decrease in forcible rapes from five in 1998 to one in 1999.

A 26 percent decrease in robberies from 35 in 1998 to 26 in 1999 A 37 percent decrease in burglaries from 546 in 1998 to 345 in 1999.

A 7 percent decrease in larceny-theft from 841 in 1998 to 786 in 1999.

A 14 percent decrease in auto thefts from 145 in 1998 to 124 in 1999.

Overall, there was a 14 percent decrease in reported crimes from 2,021 in 1998 to 1,747 in 1999.

Kliebert said, “I’m pleased with the statistics, and I stand by their integrity.

“We are one of the few departments in the state that report their statistics electronically. Even then, the state comes in and audits ourreports several times a year. We’ve always had a 100 percent accuracyrate.”

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