Denham Springs crime drops

• By BOB ANDERSON
• Florida Parishes bureau
• Published: Mar 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 5:30 p.m.

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DENHAM SPRINGS — Crime dropped dramatically last year after the city substantially increased the size of the police force, according to records from the Denham Springs Police Department.

Major crimes  decreased in almost every category. Murder, robbery, assaults, sexual assault, auto theft and other thefts all dropped, statistics show.

Among the major crimes,  only burglaries showed an increase, and that mainly involved unlocked cars, Chief of Police Jeff Wesley said.

Wesley attributes at least some of the crime reduction to adding six officers to the police force, which previously consisted of  27 officers.

All of the new officers were put on patrol duty, giving the department higher visibility and reducing the opportunity for crime, Wesley said.
Armed robberies fell 44 percent from 34 in 2006 to 19 in 2007, while robberies without a weapon dropped 47 percent from 19 to 10, the statistics show.

Auto theft dropped 68 percent from 85 to 27 and other thefts fell 4 percent from 863 to 832, the data show.

Sexual assaults showed a slight decrease, while forcible rapes remained at five for each year.

The city had no murders in 2007 compared to one killing in 2006. The 2006 shooting was the only slaying that has occurred in the city in 10 years, Wesley said.

That is “astounding,” considering the number of people who live in or do business in the city, he said.

“Denham Springs continues to be one of the safest cities of its size in Louisiana,” he said.

Wesley said he thinks the declines in armed robberies, auto thefts and other types of thefts can be attributed to the increased number of officers on patrol.

“Robberies tend to go down with increased patrols around businesses,” Wesley said.

Though the total number of burglaries increased, the number of burglaries involving forcible entries actually dropped 41 percent from 103 in 2006 to 61 in 2007, the statistics show.