Shreveportinterim police chief Ben Raymond was in high school in the early to mid-'90s, when the crime rate in Shreveport was considered its highest in the city's history — but it didn't seem like it, he recalled.
"I had no idea. My parents had no idea. My parents watched the news every night," he said of the city's crime rate during that time.
"If it wasn’t on the news, my parents didn’t know about it."
Raymond said there is an issue with perception, which doesn't reflect the actual reality of the city's current crime rate.
Violent crime —homicide, rape, robbery and assault — dropped 14% in 2018 from the year prior. The first sevenmonths of this year continued this decline.
"Again, the problem is perception. It’s trying to overcome a lot of the negative stories you get with the media with positive. You say, ‘Look, I know this is what you heard, but let me tell you what the truth is,'" Raymond said.
"We arrest dozens of people a day. We don’t put all that out there. … People are overloaded with looking at all of the problems and not looking at all the good things," Raymond continued.
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The Times obtained data from the Shreveport Police Department's annual crime reportsdating from 1983to 2018.
Homicide
In 1983, 32 homicides were reported within the city of Shreveport. A decade later, that number jumped to 86.
Fortunately that total of homicides has not been met since. It dropped to 68 the following year and lingered between 30 and the lower 60s until the end of 2010.
In 2011 and 2012, the city had 20 homicides per year — which is the record low since 1983. Homicides have increased the following years.
In 2018, 59 homicides were reported, which is a 5% increase from the year prior.
Manslaughter and justified homicide incidents are included in the homicide totals.
Rape
One-hundred and twenty-two rapes were reported in Shreveport in 2018. That's a 19% decrease from the year before.
The most rapes reported during this 35-year period was in 2016 with 155 rapes. The lowest number of rape reports occurred in 2013 with a total of 85.
Robbery
Robberies — both person and business robberies — overall dropped 33% in 2018.
Last year marked the lowest number of reported robberies since 1983, with 335 total.
In contrast, the most reportedwas in 1994, with just under 1,000 incidents.
The overall rise and fall pattern of reported robberies appears to be similar to the tempo of the reported assault incidents.
Assault
Assaults — including aggravated assault and aggravated battery — is consistently the most reported violent crime in the city.
These crimes saw little change from 2017 into 2018 — only a 6% decrease.
Throughout the '90s, these crimes were reported from anywhere between 1,400 and 1,600 per year.
Toward the end of the decade and entering the early 2000s, reports of these crimesdropped but later returned momentum only a few years later.
2019 at a glance
The first sevenmonths of this year show a 9% decrease in violent crimes versus the same time period the year prior, according to the Shreveport Police Department's monthly comparison reports.
Homicides decreased by 15%,rapes by 2%,robberies by 11%and assault and battery fell by 9%.
District 5 had the most reported homicides with four. Districts 3 and District 6 reported zero.
District 7 and District 11 reported roughly the same amount of assaults, 76 and 77, which was more than any other district.
District 13 reported the least amount of violent crime incidents.
District 1 (Martin Luther King Jr. Drive area, North Highland, West Cooper Road, Lakeview, Hearne extension, Agurs area north of Hearne)
- Homicide: 1
- Rape: 3
- Robbery: 11
- Assault: 37
District 2 (Cherokee Park, Freestate, Downtown area west of Market, Dixie Highway, Agurs area south of Hearne)
- Homicide: 1
- Rape: 1
- Robbery: 6
- Assault: 29
District 3 (Allendale, Ledbetter Heights)
- Homicide: 0
- Rape: 6
- Robbery: 13
- Assault: 23
District 4 (Highland, Stoner Hill)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 9
- Robbery: 16
- Assault: 38
District 5 (Anderson Island, Dixie Garden, Shreve Island, Broadmoor, Waterside, South Highlands, Cedar Grove area north of 70th Street)
- Homicide: 4
- Rape: 10
- Robbery: 20
- Assault: 42
District 6 (Cedar Grove area south of 70th Street and east of I-49, south Broadmoor, Town South/Springlake, East Ridge, Huckleberry Ridge, Suburban Acres, Wallace Lake, Robson Plantation)
- Homicide: 0
- Rape: 10
- Robbery: 7
- Assault: 45
District 7 (Allendale, Lakeside, Queensborough, St. Vincent/Ingleside area west of Hearne, Werner Park, Caddo Heights)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 13
- Robbery: 17
- Assault: 76
District 8 (South Lakeshore, Country Club, Mooretown)
- Homicide: 3
- Rape: 4
- Robbery: 12
- Assault: 66
District 9 (Shorewood Hills, Yarborough, Western Hills, Huntington Park, Reisor, Fox Crossing)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 8
- Robbery: 24
- Assault: 34
District 10 (St. Vincent/Ingleside area of Hearne, Caddo Heights)
- Homicide: 1
- Rape: 2
- Robbery: 14
- Assault: 59
District 11 (Sunset Acres, Hollywood, Cedar Grove area west of I-49)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 10
- Robbery: 15
- Assault: 77
District 12 (Garden Valley, Cargill Park, Pinecroft, Hyde Park, Brookwood, Southwood, Suburban Acres)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 4
- Robbery: 10
- Assault: 69
District 13 (Riverfront, Entertainment District, Downtown area east of Market)
- Homicide: 2
- Rape: 1
- Robbery: 4
- Assault: 8
Scott Ferrell contributed to this report.
Emily Enfinger is the breaking news reporter for The Shreveport Times, covering crime and court. Follow her on Twitterat @EmilyEnfinger.
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