St. Tammany News

Mounted patrols help STPSO keep the peace

Not everyone who heads to the malls and shopping centers during this time of year is looking to buy gifts. Unfortunately, some are there to victimize unsuspecting shoppers and business owners. To prevent crimes, such as shoplifting, car burglarizing and purse snatching, local law enforcement agencies beefed up their efforts this holiday season.

As it has in the past, the Sheriff's Office has used reserve officers to increase its manpower, allowing it to place officers on the weekend evenings in parking lots in the unincorporated parts of the parish.

Spokesman George Bonnett said the Sheriff's Office has had deputies or reserve deputies on duty in every main shopping center parking lot on the major shopping days.

He said the command center also has been out and operating at various shopping center parking lots for added visibility.

Traffic patrols also have been beefed up on the roadways surrounding shopping centers.

To help with maneuverability in the parking lots, he said some deputies are mounted on horseback, while others are riding utility vehicles.

Bonnett said the utility vehicles, commonly referred to as mules, help the officers get from one end of a parking lot to another in a shorter period of time.

He said the horseback patrols also have the added benefit of placing deputies above the level of the parked vehicles, allowing them to see more of the parking lot at one time.

While their presence increases response time in the event of an incident inside a store, Bonnett said the primary goal is to be proactive.

"Just their presence is a deterrent," Bonnett said.

Sgt. Ron Ruple of the Mandeville Police Department, said is department has also increased its manpower for the holiday season.

He said his department has not had a problem this season with shoplifting, and he feels that is because of the proactive approach the department has had in making sure there are officers in the parking lots.

He said Mandeville's officers are mainly looking for suspicious-looking people hanging around the parking lots. He said in many cases, these individuals are looking for unlocked vehicles to burglarize.

Lt. Kevin O'Neill of Slidell Police Department said the holiday shopping rush has caused his department to beef up patrols in the Northshore Boulevard area.

In order to increase its presence in this area, the Slidell Police Department has stationed two officers in the North Shore Square mall parking lot and two more in the parking lot of the businesses on the west side of the roadway around the clock.

Other officers are also making stops in this area as well as other popular shopping locations to increase their visibility in the city.

In addition, O'Neill said, two extra patrol officers have been placed on the roads to look for people violating traffic laws.

He said there is not much the officers can do, especially in the Northshore Boulevard area, as the problem with the traffic is the sheer volume of vehicles on the roads.

In Covington, officers have to take a different approach, as most of its shopping venues are located in downtown and not in shopping centers.

To help make itself more visible in the downtown area this holiday season, the Covington Police Department has had officers patrolling the downtown area on foot.

Ironically, Lt. Jack West, spokesman for Covington Police, said one of the problems they are having is that business owners are reluctant to call them.

West said he would rather have them call the station to report a suspicious person in a store than wait and have them respond to a shoplifting incident in that same store.

"If you have a bad feeling about someone in the store, call us," he said. "We'd rather be proactive then reactive."