Shreveport had its second-lowest crime rate last year of the past 36 years. 

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Even though there were 19 homicides last year, that's down 37-percent from the year before.  Purse-snatchings were down 25-percent last year and auto thefts were down 15-percent.  Police Chief Willie Shaw has praised the men and women of his department and he's thanked the mayor and city council for their support.  But he says the lower numbers are really the result of teamwork -- teamwork among the Police Department, the City Marshal's Office, the Sheriff's Office, and State Police as well as the D-A's Office and the courts, the Coroner's Office, and the Crime Lab.  But he says the biggest part of that equation is the community, itself, and people who are willing to come forward and report crime when they see it.  Even though the numbers are down, Chief Shaw says there's still a lot of work to be done to bring them down even more.

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