Biggest drop reported in thefts
St. Charles Parish crime dropped 5 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.“We are very pleased that the overall downward trend of crime in St. Charles Parish is continuing,” said Sheriff Greg Champagne.
The parish had 769 crimes in the six-month comparison (January through June) compared to 809 in the same period last year, according to Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), which compiles the crime data in the U.S. It is published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“Our staff at all levels is committed to continuing to implement strategies that will target the repeat and/or chronic offenders,” Champagne said. “We work closely with our District Attorney’s Office to do just that. These efforts continue to pay off.”
Champagne said the numbers support a continuing decline of crime in the parish, which are even lower than those reported in 2016 that marked the parish’s lowest year for UCR crime in at least 20 years.
“For the numbers to be running below that, at least during the first six months of this year, is very encouraging,” Champagne said. “We will continue to work hard and hopefully this trend will carry through the end of 2017.”
The parish’s 2016 numbers for the full year reflected a 13 percent drop over the previous year in total crimes.
The numbers indicated the past three years have been the three best in terms of low crime numbers during that span, a notable trend from years prior; the low mark from 1998-2013 was 2,094 in 2008, but the total number in the years 2014-16 were 1,777, 1,786 and 1,552, respectively.
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