Police Chief delivers annual report

Police Chief Jimmy Broussard lauded the work of the revamped Police Reserve Force when he presented his year-end report recently to the city council’s Public Safety Committee.
Broussard said the force provided 4,508.5 hours of patrol duty to the city during 2021.
“These are volunteer hours that were provided by these dedicated men and women to the city and its citizens free of charge,” Broussard said, adding “And all have been ‘grandfathered’ into the POST (Peace Officers Standards and Training) system as required on January 1 of this year.
“This equivocated to approximately 375.7 12-hour shifts of patrol in the year 2021.”
In addition to the patrol hours, Broussard said the force provided:
• Assistance at details for a total of 1,063.25 hours;
• Special details, including parades, festivals and other events, up to 274.5 hours; and
• Dispatch hours – given at the desk to replace ill or vacationing dispatchers so that the department would not have to take officers off the road or pay overtime – consisting of 638.25 hours.
“This brings a grand total of volunteer hours that the Crowley Police Reserve Force provided to this city to 6,484.5,” Broussard said, drawing a round of applause from members of the city council, including Committee Chairman Brad Core, a member of the Reserve Force.
Broussard reported to the committee that the Crowley Police Department responded to 10,863 calls for service during 2021.
Out of that, we received two official reports of homicide,” Broussard said. “However, we did receive 14 attempted homicide calls and two aggravated battery by shooting calls.”
Other calls included:
• 14 aggravated assault with a firearm;
• Seven aggravated battery by cutting;
• Six carnal knowledge of a juvenile;
• 151 domestic abuse battery;
• 12 first-degree rape;
• Four sexual battery;
• 14 stalking;
• 22 unauthorized entry; and
• Six unauthorized use of a movable.
“On a sad note, over the past year we received 96 calls for attempted suicide with one completed suicide as of year’s end,” Broussard said.
In other activity, the Police Department responded to 497 accidents within the city limits and an additional 19 accidents with injuries. “Two of the latter were within our jurisdiction on Interstate 10, where one resulted in a fatality which our department worked with the assistance of the Louisiana State Police,” he said.
The department also responded to:
• 195 alarm calls, several of which were repeat calls where the key-holder was either unreachable or received no response;
• 71 auto thefts;
• 174 criminal trespass calls;
• 1,571 disturbance calls, including 144 fights;
• 98 hit-and-run calls;
• 144 reckless operation crashes;
• 605 suspicious circumstances calls;
• 673 suspicious person calls; and
• 250 suspicious vehicle calls.
Broussard added that 108 juvenile arrests were made during 2021.
“Throughout the year, the Police Department operates short-handed with a total of 17 people leaving the department for one reason or another,” Broussard said. “Prior to these exits, the department saw a total of 681 shifts short due to sick leave. Many officers have worked 18-hour shifts (instead of 12-hour shifts) to assist their fellow shifts in the shortage.”
Broussard said, at the time of the committee meeting, the department was six down on personnel with the possibility of hiring two. “We are not much different, however, than most other departments,” he said, noting that large municipalities like Lafayette are down officers as well.
“Investigators with the Crowley Police Department were assigned 690 of the 10,863 calls for further investigation. This equals to approximately 173 cases per detective,” Broussard said.
Of the 690 cases assigned to detectives, 325 – or 47.1% – were solved and sent to the district attorney’s office for review or prosecution.
During 2021, 5,487 traffic citations were written by patrol officers in the city, according to the chief. Criminal citations, as reported by City Court, were 398. A total of 1,361 TED violation were written in 2021, according to Broussard.
The TED program benefits individual officers for off-duty overtime and is not a revenue generating source for the department.
Broussard added that, since its inception (June 2019), the TED program has garnered 4,559 citations. “At a rate of 85 to 90% return (payment of citations), the city has garnered $361,115 – about $120,000 annually as budgeted – into the city’s General Fund coffers.
“A report from City Court states that balances from both TED and general City Court Citations has garnered $683,680 for the city’s General Fund,” Broussard said.