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."