Concerned with recent crimes, Abbeville officials, others come together to discuss possible solutions

Voices discouraged with recent shootings and other crimes in Abbeville were heard Friday morning.
More than 20 shootings reportedly occurred in the city since the beginning of July.
Officials with the city, local law enforcement and other groups met during a special City Council meeting Friday at Abbeville City Hall to discuss possible solutions.
“I will tell you that a short-term solution is that we need a sense of urgency,” Councilman Francis Touchet Jr. said. “We need a sense of urgency to do what we have to do as a council.”
With that in mind, Abbeville Police Chief Tony Hardy requested the 24-hour cap for overtime be lifted for his department. The council moved quickly with a 5-0 vote to waive the cap.
“This will help tremendously,” Hardy said of his undermanned department. “During the past two months, we have had an average of 10 people on the street a night. We have been paying overtime, but there was only so much we could pay.”
Abbeville Police working closely with the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Department is another move Touchet said he would like to see.
Col. Kirk Frith attended the meeting, presenting the plan of a task force on behalf of Vermilion Parish Sheriff Mike Couvillon. The proposed task force would comprise multiple agencies, including local and state police.
“The Sheriff is willing to create and lead a task force, tasked out specifically to address unsolved murders in Abbeville,” Frith said.
Touchet made a motion that during the next two weeks, Chief Hardy meet with the Sheriff’s Department.
“Provide us with whatever it is going to take to get this task force going,” Touchet said. “We are going to get a plan of action. I would like this council to be briefed (on that plan). In three months, I would like the chief to do a thorough investigation as to what, long term, we need to solve these problems.
“Bring us whatever we have to do, because we as a council are going to have to provide some resources.”
Hardy said plans are already in place.
“We are going to keep attacking it,” Hardy said. “We are going to give you 110 percent and we are not going to stop until it is taken care of.”
Hardy said his department is working vigorously on the recent rash of shootings. That includes working with other agencies.
“We have been involved with several departments in the exchange of information,” Hardy said. “We are on top of this and we know what’s going on.”
That includes the State Police. Brad Guidroz, a detective with the state police, attended Friday’s meeting.
“We have had a long relationship with the chief and his crew,” Guidroz said. “We share intelligence with them on things that happen outside the city in reference to things that happen here.”
Guidroz said the state police are helping with local evidence from a back-logged crime lab.
“We have helped to take some evidence to our crime lab to try to expedite some of these cases,” Guidroz said. “We realize that sometimes being reactive can also be proactive. This is a good community and you have good people here. More than likely, it’s like every other community with a small core of people who are creating most of the problems. Being reactive to the cases where this small group of people are causing problems, you can take these people out of the community, put them in jail and prosecute them.
“Long term, that is actually being proactive for the community.”
Mark Campbell, 50, an Abbeville native who returned to his hometown after being away for many years, said he does not like what he sees in parts of the community.
“I got back to Abbeville about three and a half years ago,” Campbell said during the meeting. “Things have changed. I don’t like the violence and I don’t like the guns. That’s why I’m here today. Everybody talks a good game about what they want to do, but I am here to help. We’ve got a lot of work to do.
“The community is number one, but it’s not going to work if the community doesn’t come together.”
Campbell said he often plays basketball with younger men in the city.
“These kids are not going to high school or college,” Campbell said. “They are not leaving the city. They are laying dormant in the city. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. It’s the ones who are 20 to 30 (years old), with nothing to do.
“Kids are squeezing the trigger.”
Working to give something back is Pastor B.K. Stevens’ Visions of Hope Community Development Agency, located in the old Herod High School. Stevens, a pastor at Faith Hope Baptist Church, said Friday that his mission is clear.
“We knew the area was in need of a light to shine,” Stevens said, “so that the community can have something other than what they are used to seeing. We were working with children 5 to 17. Then we saw that a lot of people on the streets don’t have anything to look forward to, whether it’s not having a high school diploma or trade. We try to find them something to do so they can feel good.
“We want to bridge the gap and we want this to be a safe haven.”
For Touchet, he wants Friday to be a big step in the entire city feeling safe.
“We all need to have a sense of urgency because we are losing a battle with crime,” Touchet said. “We need to get in people’s faces and make sure that they understand that this is not going to be tolerated in the City of Abbeville.”