St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said around 2003 he started putting out regular email blasts, alerting community members — anyone who wanted to sign up to receive them — about crime trends in the community.

Champagne said other sheriffs and law enforcement leaders were dubious of this approach. They were worried his approach of publicizing crimes that were active and unsolved would make those in the public feel the community was in the midst of a crime wave.

The opposite took place, as a growing network of engaged residents formed to help St. Charles Parish deputies in their efforts to thwart crime.

“People started to know what to look for, what to give tips about,” Champagne said.

Fast forward more than a decade and you can find Champagne still actively involved in community relations, sometimes using email but now more engrossed in Facebook.

By late this week, the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Facebook page had 5,750 likes, and Champagne’s personal page had 4,997.

Frequent posting on both pages has led to more direct contact with local residents, which Champagne said translates to decreased crime.

When speaking with me this week, it’s what he credited most for the parish’s low crime rate.

He certainly has a lot to be proud of on that front. Champagne’s office released crime statistics this week on which the sheriff indicated crime in St. Charles Parish fell by 19 percent in 2014, taking overall crime totals to “an 18-year low for The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office.”

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the breakdown in the seven categories tracked by The Federal Bureau of Investigation is as follows:

2013 2014 %Change

Murder 5 4 -20%

Rape 5 10 +100%

Robbery 33 22 -33.3%

Assault 846 706 -16.5%

Burglary 300 208 -30.7%

Theft 949 738 -22.2%

Auto Theft 59 89 +33.7

Champagne is correct to point out the relative low and consistent single-digit reports of murder and rape make even changes of one or two in either direction skew the percentage change disproportionately.

He attributed the significant increase in auto thefts to a New Orleans auto theft ring that was able to steal several trucks and SUVs, causing an increase over a concentrated few weeks.

“It was, however, St. Charles Parish detectives who broke that trend by apprehending one of the ring’s key players — a career criminal who was arrested and subsequently sentenced to prison,” Champagne said in a media release.

Despite the numbers’ seemingly positive story, Champagne was quick to point out with me that he nor his staff are satisfied because the statistics don’t mean jack to someone who was the victim of crime.

“Take the guy whose house was robbed,” the sheriff said. “He sees that crime has dropped and says no it hasn’t. For him, crime has gone up 100 percent.

“We’ve been hired by the community to prevent crime, and we can never be satisfied.”

That mindset, and the sheriff’s consistent push to get his office’s message out to the community, works. All the better if others can borrow from his successes to spread the results.

This gets me back to my favorite recent Champagne Facebook post that went live at 6:40 p.m. Dec. 31.

“I wanted to remind everyone that we still offer a free ride home to anyone who has had to much to drink. Unfortunately, few take us up on this offer. So, please remember that this only applies if you are at a location in St. Charles Parish and call us BEFORE you get behind the wheel. If you call AFTER going in the ditch, we will still give you a free ride, but unfortunately, it won’t be to your home.”

Yes, it can be better to get the first word in than the last.

Stephen Hemelt is general manager and editor of L’OBSERVATEUR. He can be reached at 985-652-9545 or stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com.