OPINION
Recent well-meaning comments by the newly elected District Attorney might have created an unintended distortion of the crime rate in Franklinton and western Washington Parish.
In an attempt to show how important it is reduce homicides in Bogalusa, District Attorney Colin Sims pointed out that Washington Parish recently has had 44% of the murders in his entire 22nd Judicial District, which is composed of Washington and St. Tammany Parishes.
But, he noted, despite having 44% of the district’s murders, Washington Parish’s total population represents only 14% of the entire district.
And of course that is a very startling statistic.
But what some people missed is that most of those murders occurred in the eastern part of the parish, specifically Bogalusa. Very few of the murders occurred in the western part of the parish.
While Bogalusa has had 19 murders in just the past 4 years, Franklinton has had only 5 murders in the entire past decade, and that includes a recent murder-suicide that has been in the news.
Despite the wave of homicides, murders in Bogalusa have decreased during the past two years. Officials in Bogalusa are hopeful that an enhanced police presence will help continue the decrease in homicides.
The main point, however, is that Franklinton is a safe place. The crime rate here is satisfactory compared to other places of similar population.
Of course, even a single homicide is tragic. No one disputes that, and the actions that the new DA and incoming Sheriff Jason Smith are planning for Bogalusa in conjunction with the Bogalusa Police Department are commendable.
Let’s not let the overall Washington Parish murder rate detract from the excellent job that law enforcement is doing in Franklinton. We are fortunate to have an outstanding police department in Franklinton. All of us need to realize this and offer our full support to our local law enforcement personnel.
