Chief McGuire goes over Safe Zone use

Franklin Police Chief Sabria McGuire addressed the City Council Tuesday with an update on the Safe Zone program in Franklin.
McGuire said that when the Safe Zones were implemented, they were used by the immediate community and by people outside the immediate community, primarily for the exchange and commerce of goods. “Mainly it’s used for child exchange, now,” McGuire said. “The courts are ordering for the child to be exchanged there because they know we do have cameras, and audio and video there. As far as items being sold, like on Craigslist, or with Instagram sales, that has decreased.”
McGuire expressed a desire to let it be known publicly that the Safe Zones are still a productive place for the purchase and sale of goods.
She pointed to a recent rash of oil field thefts in Iberia and St. Mary parishes, under circumstances surrounding such exchanges of goods, as proof that the Safe Zones’ utility should be considered for such transactions. “Of course if you use the zone, for something stolen, probably you are not going to come in front of the Police Department where there is constantly a police officer on site,” she said. “We do have the child exchange on Northwest Boulevard. That is working well, but we do want to get the buzz out about items being exchanged.”
Councilman Joseph Garrison commended Chief McGuire and her Department on their efforts concerning the Safe Zones, but then pivoted to the need in Franklin for an increased public effort towards citizens being on alert in their own community.
McGuire reported a success with such efforts in the Pecan Acres area. “Daywatch is coming,” McGuire said. “That meeting was extremely productive. We had over thirty citizens from that community that met with us. We are encouraging other neighborhoods to get involved.”
She said that the community of Pecan Acres had, since falling victim to 20 burglaries, banded together to address the crime in their neighborhood by crafting a clever system of communication among the citizens, used to identify, describe and report criminals to the police.
McGuire discussed a program called, LeadsOnline, implemented with the assistance of Mayor Raymond Harris Jr.
“We encourage everyone to write down their serial numbers,” McGuire said, “If you do have something stolen, we can get it put into the system. What LeadsOnline does, is they monitor pawn shops, social networks, and online networks such as Craigslist. We recovered stolen property from nine burglaries because people were able to report the makes, models, and serial numbers.”
That all started in that community,” McGuire said of Pecan Acres, “If you go to an area to do something that you are not supposed to do, don’t go to Pecan Acres, because they’re gonna know. They are still constantly watching.”
McGuire closed by saying that it took approximately two weeks to get the outbreak of burglaries in Pecan Acres under control. Though, she nodded one last time to perspective criminals of Pecan Acres, “If you are thinking of going there, they haven’t let their guard down. They’re still on alert.”
Then, to the Franklin community at large, she said, “If you see something, say something. Please don’t wait until the next day to call us. Call us when it is happening.”