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Police department highlights early successes in New Iberia

Posted at 10:00 PM, Jul 18, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-18 23:00:07-04

In less than three weeks on the job, New Iberia’s police department is already making major strides in fighting crime.

Despite the early successes, Police Chief Todd D’Albor says his officers have much more work to do. With only 17 days under their belt, officers have already taken drugs and weapons off the street. 

"Our team of investigators and patrol officers have been very proactive toward information we have been receiving from our community. One thing we committed to do in our department is making sure we listen to peoples concerns and those concerned areas that were causing disruptions and problems in the neighborhoods," D’Albor said.

Some residents are already praising the department for its actions and its presence in the community. 

"They’ve already taken action. They’ve already done a lot of things to put people in jail who deserve to be and get the crime out of New Iberia," resident Rachel Bergeron said. 

Bergeron moved away from New Iberia before the police department was reinstated. She now says she is thankful for seeing a change in her hometown. 

"I moved because of crime, it’s just outrageous and crazy… crime, drugs," she said. 

D’Albor says his officers are committed making sure that residents are safe, but that there is still work that must be done to make that happen.

"The officers who signed up to be apart of this department signed up to make a difference. And we committed to our community that we are in, and our community is committed in return," D’Albor said.

Other members of the community like Lance Broussard says he has noticed a larger police presence in the city, but he believes the police department needs to do more to gain the trust of the community. 

"I mean other than more police and a bigger police presence, yes. But I think it’s more or less ‘communication is everything.’ So I mean you can have as many police officers as you want but if you don’t have the communication, to the neighborhoods and the people, nothing will get done," Broussard said. 

On Facebook, the New Iberia Police Department highlighted a few of their recent successes. 

Officials say the Department of Criminal Investigation Division allegedly recovered multiple guns at a residence on 800 block of Mixon Street on Wednesday. That seizure was part of an ongoing investigation. 

The Patrol Division of the police department, on Tuesday, also allegedly recovered suspected crystal meth and marijuana. Four arrests were made during that investigation

New Iberia Police were also able to make an arrest of a man wanted in connection with a shooting at a Delcambre car wash. Shawn Dugan was arrested on charges of attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy to possess methamphetamine over 400 grams. More can be read here.