Lafayette's Chief of Police patrols downtown with officers
LAFAYETTE, La (KLFY) -- Lafayette's Police Chief is taking to the streets to get a firsthand look on her officers fighting crime.
As we first reported, Lafayette set a murder record in 2023. Now the Chief, Judith Estorge, wants to take back the streets for the public. News 10 rode exclusively with Chief Estorge last Saturday night as she got a firsthand look at how her officers are fighting crime.
It's 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night and Downtown Lafayette has its usual hustle and bustle. It's also the busiest night for Lafayette Police Officers. That's why Police Chief Estorge is patrolling the streets. She wants to see firsthand how her officers are interacting with the community.
For Estorge, she says downtown on a weekend night is a high priority beat.
"The officers are assigned those details because of the frequency of people going out," said Estorge.
She says her department is focused on decreasing violent crime throughout the city. One way to do that, is having patrol officers be visible in high crimes areas, where they are most needed.
"Now, if you talk to the patrol officers, they're responding to calls, whatever comes up, and then they're also patrolling neighborhoods and businesses, you know, trying to assure peace and provide a sense of security to the residents," Estorge explained.
Estorge says being out on the streets with her officers helps her evaluate where to put manpower to protect the community.
"It's a continual process. We are always evaluating manpower and allocation of manpower and shifting it as we need to," said Estorge.
She says although 2023 saw a record number of homicides, including many downtown, she's confident in her officer's ability to prevent them before they happen.
"I want to emphasize that the safety of our citizens, our community is essential, and we are working diligently to keep everyone safe," Estorge said.
Estorge says she is also focused on increasing police cameras throughout the city to catch criminals.