Starting tonight, there will be a curfew for everyone in the City of Opelousas.
The curfew will start at 9 p.m. and last until 6 a.m. every day.
The curfew will not apply to any First responders or any individuals reporting to or coming from a place of employment deemed as an "essential business" under the State of Louisiana Emergency Declaration.
All businesses within the City of Opelousas, with the exception of a hospital or private ambulance service, will be closed at 9:00 PM until 6:00 AM, according to the police department.
Businesses supplying fuel services may allow self-service pumps to remain in use with the use of a card in an effort to provide individuals the ability to refuel to return to a place of employment.
In addition, the Opelousas Police Department will be modifying some services and procedures to limit the exposure and to mitigate COVID-19 issues as much as possible.
The modified report taking process will be in place to limit the amount of personal interactions our officers will have with the public. “In-Progress / High-Priority Dispatch” protocol will began Monday.
Citizens should call 9-1-1 for priority emergencies calls for any situations where there is a crime in progress, both property or person crimes, and a life is in danger for an officer to immediately respond.
Low-priority crime calls or non-emergencies where a suspect is no longer present or the crime has already occurred will be handled by an officer over the phone following a call to 337-948-2500.
There are certainly instances that may still require on-scene investigation, and police say they will respond as necessary. Anyone wanting to report criminal activity can email crimetips@opelousaspd.com.
These changes to procedures is intended to limit the exposure of the public and department personnel to only situations where it is absolutely necessary during the current covid-19 crisis. The Opelousas Police Department is committed to serving and protecting the public during this crisis, a release states.
Reminder: The Opelousas Police Department has closed its building(s) for public access. During this time the department will not be providing non-criminal fingerprint services, vehicle inspections, and onsite access to police reports.
Accident reports can be purchased online at https://policereports.lexisnexis.com/search/search [policereports.lexisnexis.com].
Any other reports can be requested by phone 337-948-2500 or by email: reports@opelousaspd.com.
