Frustrated by silence from potential witnesses
Published 6:00 am Sunday, March 12, 2017
The Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and any other law enforcement officials who respond to a crime can’t help us if we don’t try to help ourselves.
IPSO deputies on the street and higher-ups are becoming increasingly frustrated by the public’s silence when it comes to crime in this city. Such was the case this past week when a 19-year-old man was shot multiple times in the back at 8 p.m. along Hopkins Street.
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Another night, another shooting (sometimes even a daylight shooting) and, once again, no witnesses have come forward, according to IPSO Public Information Officer Capt. Wendell Raborn.
We understand their frustration and empathize with the plight of deputies and detectives trying to do their job.
Wednesday night’s shooting happened in front of an abandoned building across the street from a convenience store. The store’s surveillance video showed dozens of people, potential witnesses, at the scene.
“The shooting happened just out of frame of the camera,” Raborn said Friday in The Daily Iberian. “You could see people in the parking lot watching what was going on across the street. There were probably 20 people watching, then they scatter when the shots are fired. When deputies arrived at the scene and asked, ‘Who did this?’ the answer is, ‘Uh, I didn’t see anything.’ ”
Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal was perplexed, also.
“I had a man tell me the sheriff wasn’t doing his job. So I asked him why, and he said because I let them out of jail. I don’t let people out, I put them in. The courts let them out,” the sheriff said.
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A City Council member also joined in the plea for people to come forward if they witness a crime.
“We can keep blaming on law enforcement, but until we speak out nothing is going to change,” New Iberia District 5 Councilwoman Sherry Guidry said. “The thing about it is, the only way we are going to be able to change things is to fight back. If you see something you need to say something. So when a detective asks you what you saw, you need to say what you saw.”
Hopefully, residents will take the advice to heart.
DON SHOOPMAN
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR