By CALEB FREY

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish saw a record low for total crimes in Sheriff Greg Champagne’s administration, which began in 1996. Total crimes were down 9.4 percent from 2004 in which there were 2,407 total crimes reported, as opposed to 2,180 reported for 2005.

Crime statistics are separated into seven categories: murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, and auto theft. Decreases from the previous year were seen in robbery, assault, theft and auto theft. While murder showed a 100 percent increase over 2004 and rape a 60 percent increase, percentages can be misleading when looking at the previous years stats according to Champagne.

&#8220Murder is the crime that is probably least preventable because it’s between people who know each other and normally have a history,” Champagne said. &#8220Usually we have between two and four murders a year. There was a 100 percent increase from two last year to four this year and it’s a misleading statement.”

Rape increased 60 percent from 2004, up from five to eight rapes total. This is another category where percentages can be misleading according to Champagne.

&#8220Eight rapes, even though it’s up 60 percent, is still pretty impressive in a population of over 70,000 people,” Champagne said. Rape is another unfortunate case where it’s rarely preventable because the perpetrator is usually someone the victim knows or a family member, according to Champagne.

St. Charles Parish has been enjoying a steady decrease in crime over the course of Champagne’s administration, which he attributes to a combination of his officers as well as residents of the parish.

&#8220We have a lot of visibility out there as far as officers patrolling. You’ll always see three or four officers out there patrolling our streets,” Champagne said. &#8220We also have a good population of law-abiding citizens.”

Champagne noted that traffic has become an increasing problem as of late, a stat that’s absent from the year-end crime reports.

&#8220Accidents have increased although those numbers aren’t reflected in the crime stats,” Champagne said. &#8220We got a lot of traffic and I urge people to drive safe.” Champagne said that an increased priority in traffic detail would hopefully decrease the number of accidents and traffic violations.

Overall, Champagne is pleased with the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office record year but immediately looks ahead to the future.

‘We’re pleased, but we want to continue to work better,” Champagne said. He also urges all residents not to hesitate to call the Sheriff’s office if they see something out of the ordinary.