St. Martinville City Council discusses concerns over recent wave of gunfire in city

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, December 22, 2021

ST. MARTINVILLE — The St. Martinville City Council discussed the wave of recent gunfire in the city at its meeting on Monday, with several solutions being proposed.

St. Martinville Chief of Police Ricky Martin said his department has been exploring the possibility of using mobile cameras like other cities in the area, but the costs are currently prohibitive.

“In the last year, we’ve had 81 shots fired complaints,” Martin said. “That’s not all shootings, it’s shots fired.”

“The committee we formed, we have money in the bank. I think about $4,000, which we can use to buy cameras. We spoke about using a trailer, a little utility trailer, putting cameras on that. We can bring it around the city, set it up for a few days, then move it.”

While the opinions on the camera set up seemed positive, some concerned citizens in attendance said that it may not be enough.

“What happens if they shoot out these cameras?” one resident asked.

It was a good question, Mayor Pro-Tem Craig Prosper said.

“What do you think the chances of them shooting out the cameras are?” asked Prosper. “A million percent?”

Martin agreed, adding that his department doesn’t have the presence to adequately patrol the city.

“This is what it boils down to, we can’t be everywhere all the time,” he said. “We have two patrolmen, everybody in the city knows that, and they’re taking advantage of that.”

With camera funding being limited, Prosper suggested that the chief investigate what an extra patrolman would cost to use.

“So, chief, why don’t you come up with a plan of what it would cost, short term, for us to put in action, pick 8, 10 nights a month and put another officer?” Prosper said.

“What your diagram shows, its within 8 or 10 blocks that most of these shots (occur). Why don’t we randomly throw another officer in to just patrol those blocks. Get after it. If you come up with a budget and you say ‘hey look, for the next six months, for $20,000, I could really hit this area hard.’ I don’t know that the council doesn’t approve that.”

Martin said the problem area is a very small part of the city.

“LaSalle and Berard is the worst intersection in the city. LaSalle and Berard and LaSalle and Church,” he said. “We could park right there all day long, and you could hear a cricket. We leave and get two blocks down the road, you hear gunshots. And they’re just shooting in the air.”

Prosper said that if the cost was manageable, the council would be likely to approve the measure.