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Children in Shreveport, LA are three times more likely to be wounded by gunfire than the national average. If that statistic from WGNO doesn’t shock you, something is wrong. We’ve got a big problem and it’s time we do something about it.

Just two short weeks ago, we saw three, count them three, mass shootings over the period of a weekend in the greater Shreveport-Bossier City area. Two of those mass shootings were in Shreveport and one was in Minden, LA. I don’t know about you, but this whole situation is out of control.

Members of the Shreveport Police Department that I’ve spoken to say that morale is at an all-time low, that they’re short-staffed, and feel as if more resignations are coming. On top of that, they feel like their hands are tied when it comes to doing actual police work. One officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, ‘We cleaned up ‘the bottoms’ back in the day and we can clean this up too if the administration would just let us do our jobs.’

While no one knows exactly what the answer is to help keep our streets and our kids safe, we know there are a few things we must do. We have to make sure our streetlights are on and working. We need to clean up areas of blight. We also need to have our police force working at full capacity with the backing of the administration and the district attorney’s office. And that’s just the beginning.

Losing just one life is too many. We’ve already lost 20+ so far this year in Shreveport alone. Let’s not be complacent. It’s time to take action, whether it’s something as simple as getting involved in cleanup efforts or hitting your knees in prayer. Any ideas to stop the violence are welcome. Send us a 'chat' using our free app or an email to erin.bristol@townsquaremedia.com.

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