2014-15 rank is best in Champagne’s tenure
St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne believes his office and staff are doing something right — and the numbers back him up.
The crime rate in the parish has reached the second lowest total since Champagne became sheriff in 1996. 2014 saw the lowest rate of crime in the Champagne era, while 2015 saw a very slight uptick of 0.5 percent, from 1,777 to 1,786 total crimes, according to the quarterly report.
“We knew last year would be hard to top,” Champagne said. “We’re pleased, though obviously, our goal is to continue to find ways to make it even better.”
The biggest changes in individual crimes came in assault, burglary, auto theft and theft. Assaults dropped by 6.1 percent and auto theft dropped by 21.9 percent. Burglary and theft each increased by 13 and 5.4 percent, respectively. “We had a bump in burglaries toward the end of the year,” Champagne said. “A good thing to note is we just arrested one of our more prominent serial burglars, and I think that will result in the number of burglaries drastically going down. Many times, you see a high number of burglaries, and it could be 10, 15 people responsible for 230 burglaries.”Champagne said the strong results over the past two years are due to several factors.
One is the public visibility for the Sheriff’s Office through social media.
“I think a lot of people see the things we post and assume, ‘there’s a lot of crime (compared to past years)’. But what’s happened is social media has made it more accessible to the public. The public is more aware, we’re able to communicate with them and I think that certainly makes things better. People can be on the lookout for it.”
Another factor he noted was the proliferation of surveillance cameras, both for home and business security.“Most businesses have them now,” Champagne said. “Not only can it catch someone in the act, but they also know of their presence to begin with. It acts as a deterrent.”
The District Attorney’s office also received credit from the sheriff for pushing for harsher sentences when the Sheriff’s Office alerts them of a repeat offender.
Finally — and most importantly, Champagne stresses — the work of patrol officers and investigators each and every day has made the recent lower crime rates a reality.
“They deserve the most credit, hands down,” Champagne said.
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