IBERIA PARISH (NEW IBERIA — With school back in session in Iberia Parish and summer break coming to a close, New Iberia police hope this will also help deter juvenile-related crime in the city.
KATC spoke with law enforcement and locals, to learn more about this ongoing issue.
"So normally during the summer months, when kids are out of school, we do see a slight increase in juvenile-related crimes," said Captain Leland Laseter of the New Iberia Police Department.
"The incident over here happened about 5:00 in the morning." Dolores and Daniel Boudreaux have been living in the same house on Tampico Street for 34 years. But in the last 2 and a half months, they've been experiencing something they've never dealt with before.
"Danny went out at 11:00 in the morning to get something out of the car," Dolores said, "and he noticed my back glass had been broken into. The burglars got in through my back glass, and destroyed my steering column and everything in the front."
The night before Father's Day, the Boudreaux's said they were 'hit by car burglars,' causing more than $4,000 in vehicle damage.
"The neighbors' motion detector light went off," said Daniel. "When [the burglars] went to the side of the house, it set it off, and [they] took off." Earlier this week, however, the couple's new, $3,200 security system caught something else.
"Two young kids—it appeared teenagers—were checking to see if the back doors were unlocked on vehicles," Delores recalled.
Hoping for change, the Boudreaux's reported it to the NIPD. This is the arrest report given to KATC:
1 juvenile apprehended, released to guardian
Charges:
-2 counts of vehicle burglary
-1 count curfew violation
-1 count juvenile possession of a handgun
-1 count resisting an officer
-1 count passion of an illegal and stolen firearm
According to Captain Leland Laseter, the department contacted approximately 6 juvenile detention centers; all declined to accept him due to overcrowding.
"During the recent summer months," said the Captain, "we averaged about 15 juvenile arrests per month for juvenile- related crimes."
But things get tricky after a juvenile is arrested.
"When it comes to juveniles, you know, a lot of times law enforcement's hands are tied. There's regulations out there that kind of set guidelines on what we can and can't do when dealing with a juvenile."
According to the Louisiana Children's Code, as it pertains to nonviolent juvenile crimes, police can only hold a juvenile up to 6 hours upon initial arrest. Then, they are either released to a parent or guardian, or taken to an out-of-parish detention center.
But due to overcrowding in these centers...
"The state is seeing less juvenile facilities, more juvenile crime," said Captain Laseter. "So, it's becoming harder to place juveniles in detention centers when it's called for."
"That leaves us standing with no results," said the Boudreaux's. I mean, going back again, sending them back home, [it's] just giving them the opportunity to go do it again."
