OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY) -- On Sunday, Opelousas Police Chief Graig Leblanc addressed how the department is curbing violent crime throughout the city.

"All I had was a plan, if the officers wouldn't have accepted that plan, we would still be in the condition we were in in Opelousas," Leblanc said.

During his speech, Chief of Police Graig LeBlanc reflects on the impact gun violence has had on the city of Opelousas, particularly among young people aged 10 to 34, with disproportionate effects on Black and Latino communities. Now he says it is time for a change.

"To me when I took office and I knew that every time a child was exposed to gun violence…they could also participate in the gun violence," Leblanc said.

Leblanc shared some statistics of a decrease in crime over the last year, which includes weapon law violations and weapons arrests.

According to the chief, there were 113 reported weapon law violations in Opelousas in 2023. This number has since gone down to 75 so far this year, which is a 33% decrease from last year. There were also 86 reported weapon arrests in 2023, but that number has dropped to only 59 weapon arrests this year. With this, the city has gone from a total of 2,000 incidents in 2023, to just over 1,700 in 2024.

"We don't want to have to continue to arrest everybody, we want to see improvement in our youth, we have to change minds, we have to change the mindset of our young men, our juvenile men, and our adult men," Leblanc said.

Leblanc said he and the department are not only committed to lowering crime in Opelousas but also bringing the community closer together.

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