Abbeville officials, citizens discuss recent shootings during Council meeting

Shootings in the city of Abbeville continue to cause anger and sadness among officials and citizens.
Those concerns again reached the table during Tuesday night’s regular City Council meeting, only three hours after the shooting of a juvenile. A family member told KATC-TV on Wednesday that the 15-year-old is doing “as well” as can be expected. The item regarding shootings had already been placed for discussion on the agenda late last week.
“The shootings are taking over our city,” Councilwoman Terry Broussard said. “It’s really, really bad. People are afraid.”
Broussard said she represents a district that has been hit hard by these acts, where those fears are palpable.
“With the young man getting shot today,” Broussard said with emotion in her voice, “I am troubled by that. Homes of innocent people are being shot into.
“What do we say to people?”
Broussard said there have been several instances when city officials have reached out to people in the community.
“We’ve had meetings in the past,” Broussard said. “Those meetings have been attended by the mayor, city council and chief of police. We’ve all put forth an effort to go out to the community. In the beginning, the first two or three meetings were full. After a while, people slacked off on attending. We had a meeting at McKinley Scott Park, and only seven people showed up.”
Councilman Francis Plaisance said this is a problem that will take a community effort.
“Some how, some way,” Plaisance said, “we have to, as a community, find a way to find a solution to this.
“When you have a (juvenile) shot like this, now we’re getting down to where you can lose a child.”
Rita Marks, an Abbeville resident, has grandchildren. She said a stern approach is needed when warning young people about the realities of becoming involved in the wrong situations. She said it also takes everyone being involved.
“Police officers have a job to do and parents have a job to do,” Marks said. “The solution to this problem is teamwork. We can’t point the finger at the police department. We can’t point the finger at the sheriff’s department. We can’t point the finger at the school system. It takes (every) entity to make one good resolution. We’re not going to generate new businesses with the reputation that you can do anything you want in Abbeville. We can solve these problems, but we have to go back to basics. I raised my children as a single parent, and I did not spare the rod.
“Finger pointing is not going to solve any problems.”
Councilman Brady Broussard Jr. agreed wholeheartedly with Marks.
“It starts in the home and can be fixed in the home,” said Broussard, who thanked Marks after the meeting for speaking up.
Chief of Police William Spearman spoke to efforts being taken by his department. He said the department is working with the Violent Crimes Task Force, has placed cameras at numerous locations in the city and has officers working overtime to patrol. Spearman said members of the community can be a vital asset in arrests being made, and can do so anonymously. ​Anyone who has information regarding any crime can call the “Tips” line at 892-6777. All callers may remain anonymous. Citizens may also send anonymous tips through CrimeStoppers of Vermilion by calling 740-TIPS or the P3 app.
“We have made arrests,” Spearman said of recent shootings. “In some of these other shootings, the person who was shot has thrown us out of their hospital room and did not want to talk to us.”
Councilwoman Roslyn White credited Spearman and his officers for the job they do, and acknowledged the difficulty of that job. However, echoing an earlier thought from Councilwoman Broussard, White said people in the community want to hear from the chief.
“I think people are looking to hear publicly the measures you are taking to protect them,” White said to Spearman during the meeting. ‘They don’t want to hear it from (anyone on social media). They want to hear it from you. I am just asking you to be proactive in that message. I think it would go a long way to rebuild trust.”