U.S. Attorney’s office staff attends Shreveport, Lafayette Night Out events

SHREVEPORT/LAFAYETTE, La. – Western District of Louisiana U.S. Attorney’s Office staff members and other local law enforcement and community leaders met in neighborhoods throughout Caddo and Lafayette parishes Tuesday as part of their annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention events.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook and other members of the office, Mike Campbell, Law Enforcement Community Coordinator (LECC), and Robert W. Gillespie Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorney/Project Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator (PSN), joined Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler, Shreveport Police Chief Willie Shaw, Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator’s Office and the Shreveport Fire Department for events in Northwest Louisiana. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Luke Walker and Joseph T. Mickel joined the Lafayette Police Department, Lafayette Sheriff’s Department, Lafayette Parish Fire Department and other agencies for National Night Out events in South Central Louisiana.

Residents unlocked their doors, turned on porch lights and spent the evening outside with family, friends, neighbors, emergency response personnel and city officials. Many neighborhoods throughout Caddo Parish hosted a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities and anti-crime rallies. In Lafayette, residents met at Neyland Park on Eraste Landry Road and the Martin Luther King Center near Willow Street. The events included music, food, games, fun jumps and displays by the Lafayette Fire Department, the Lafayette Sheriff’s Office, the Lafayette Police Department SWAT Team, Horse Patrol, Motorcycle Unit, Bicycle Patrol and the Police Command Bus.

National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, generate support for local anti-crime efforts, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police ­community partnerships, and send a clear message that neighbors are orga­nized and fighting back.

      
 “National Night Out is a way for neighbors to join with their law enforcement and community partners to demonstrate that crime does not rule the night and that criminals have no safe haven when the sun goes down,” Finley stated. “The ‘Night Out’ is also a great way to acknowledge the accomplishments of neighborhood organizations that keep communities safe, and especially to thank and acknowledge our law enforcement community for putting their lives on the line for us every day.”

As the District’s LECC, Mike Campbell acts as a liaison between the U.S. Attorney=s Office and local, state and federal law enforcement.  He assists with grants, coordinates and provides law enforcement training and assists law enforcement agencies with special and community needs.  The mission of the LECC is to develop coordination, communication and cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the Western District of Louisiana by providing education, training and technical assistance to all federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in the district.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is the District’s coordinator for the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program.  Project Safe Neighborhoods is the anti-gang, anti-gun violence initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice.  It is a comprehensive, strategic approach to reducing gun violence and promoting safe communities around the country.  Project Safe Neighborhoods combats gun violence by bringing together local, state and federal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders to implement a multi-faceted strategy to deter and punish gun violence.

Thousands of communities across the United States took part in the 32^nd Annual National Night Out starting in August. To find out more about National Night Out, visit the National Association for Town Watch at http://www.natw.org.