Dystopian Shreveport: What are the Answers to Survival?

Living in Shreveport these days is turning into some kind of twisted, dystopian experience. It is no exaggeration to note that shootings occur every single day in this city, sometimes multiple times, and often with injuries or fatalities. It is tragic anytime a life is lost to this senseless violence but it seems even more so when an innocent life, or a beautiful child, is lost.

And we accept this. 

On March 20, 2021, five-year old Mya Patel was killed when she was hit by a stray bullet.

Wednesday, March 24, social media reflected multiple audio recordings of shots fired early in the evening, shots I heard clearly while reading in my bedroom.

March 30, a woman a few blocks from me was shot in the hip; luckily she is okay.

March 31, Xavier Griffin, 19 years old, shot and killed in the Queensborogh neighborhood. Nineteen years old.

Last night, April 2, one was killed and others injured in multiple shootings.

It is literally every single day or night - doesn't matter what time -- and we are doing nothing about this. You can check the Caddo 911 Active Emergency Events page and almost every single time you'll see a shots fired or a shootings call, and those don't include the ones that never make it to the page or are "holding," waiting for available officers. 

We are doing nothing about it.

"But, what can we do?!"  I hear you. I don't have those answers. My layman's opinion would be to first work through the local elections process to elect leaders tough on crime, willing to enforce penalties on criminals. From the mayor, to the District Attorney, to the city council and the parish commission, we need support. 

We need police officers and the money to pay them. Shreveport ranks woefully low in police pay and our officers do not stay. We need the best and the brightest, willing to work hard for good pay.

We need jobs. We need businesses to come here to grow the tax base and to provide employment. We need all levels of jobs, from the trades to the administrative. We can't continue to depend simply on service industry jobs as our main employers. 

Businesses won't come without decent infrastructure. Our streets are literally crumbling, our water system is collapsing (not to mention their mismanaged billing practices), and the city is covered in trash, litter, and empty buildings. 

We need a vibrant downtown. The downtown area is trying: there are some places to eat, a few renovated buildings for apartments, you can see a movie, look at buildings. Many people avoid downtown due to safety issues. Maybe we need bicycle or mounted units there. Maybe we need more options for our large homeless population on the streets there. 

We need so many things. Old time Shreveporters often speak of the "good ol' days" when we had sports teams like The Shreveport Captains, where families could go enjoy a game on a pretty afternoon or evening. Now, our baseball stadium is empty, crumbling, and filled with bats and toxic guano.

Neil Johnson postcard photo.

For the most part, unless you want to drink or gamble, there is not much for families to do here. There are a few things...SciPort is downtown, and the Aquarium. What else? Someone help me. I know I'm forgetting something -- my kids are grown.

Before anything else happens, safety has got to be addressed. Perhaps I am alone in my concern. Perhaps I am in the minority when I balk at going to Betty Virginia Park to walk or spend an afternoon outside. Maybe I'm the only one who is constantly on guard when I walk my neighborhood.  Maybe nobody else has started taking their dogs out at night earlier, or in the backyard rather than the front yard. Maybe nobody else has installed surveillance cameras around their home. Maybe I'm the only one much more cautious about locking their car at night. Maybe nobody else has had packages stolen off their front porch. 

Maybe all this is just my perception.

I long to see a thriving Shreveport with businesses like when we had Western Electric, General Motors, Kast Metals, Libby Glass, Poulan WeedEater, to name a few. The Captains played baseball in their new stadium and people sat in the beer garden eating hot dogs and sipping nickel beer. New malls and shopping centers dotted the city, and parks were growing. People ate at local restaurants, like Sansone's, Brocato's, Abe's, Monsour's, The Centenary Oyster House, George's, and Fertitta's, to name a few. Downtown was bustling with department stores like Selber's, Hearne's, Rubensteins, and Palais Royal. You could grab lunch at a nice, fancy place downtown or a quick, inexpensive burger place. You felt safe. You could park in the Selber's parking garage and not worry about your car or about getting panhandled or mugged. Shreve Square was hopping on weekend nights: great bands in multiple clubs, people walking between them, great restaurants, good times.

Have you seen the building where The Sportspage or Humphrees used to be?

Humpfrees, 2021. 

We could reminisce about the glory days forever, and everybody knows times change and nothing stays the same, but the truth is, other cities adapt better than we have. When you travel, when you leave the city and see other places, even places within say a three hour radius, it is stunning to see the difference. 

It's possible to have a clean city with happy people. But Shreveport feels like a city with a cloud of gloom over it. We can talk it up and pretend to be positive. I know people will jump on me and say that it's the negative people like me that keeps it down. "If you hate it here so much, why don't you leave!?" I've heard it. 

The answer is I'd like to be part of a solution, not stick my head in the sand and pretend like it's great. It's not great. Listen to that gunfire every night and tell me how great that is.

So. What's the solution. What do we do, Shreveport? What are the answers?

Dear Neighbors: We Have a Dog Theft Problem

Dear Shreveport-Bossier and neighbors:

We have an animal control problem.  There is an epidemic of pet theft and dog-napping happening right under your nose.  It seems like every day I hear of someone whose dog has been stolen right out of their own yard or car.  What in the hell is going on?

Yesterday, a woman in Highland let her dog out into her fenced backyard and in ten minutes someone opened the gate, snatched the dog, and drove off.

In September a woman's Pomeranian was snatched in Highland:

Lindsey Combest says she didn't see the abduction herself, but a witness tells her that someone in a white 4-door truck pulling lawn care equipment picked her dog Wesson up near the corner of College St. and Centenary St. "It happened in about 15 seconds."

Also in Highland:

Joe Young says he put his 3-year-old terrier Dixie outside on a clip in his Highland neighborhood yard last week, and "45 minutes later the dog was gone." He asked neighbors in the area, thinking that the dog had just gotten loose, and learned there might have been something more sinister behind his pup's disappearance. "I found out that my dog had been picked up by a woman in a reddish-colored Jeep-type vehicle." He says a neighbor told him that they saw the dog-napping happen. "It makes me angry mostly. A dog-napper has got to be one of the worst kinds of person, I mean that's next to kidnapping as far as I'm concerned."

In Bossier Parish five boxer puppies were stolen.

There are countless reports of stolen -- not lost -- dogs on social media.

The Shreveport Pets section of Craigslist has at least a dozen pitbulls for sale right now; those ads often include a photo of the worn out, over bred mother to prove the dog's "champion blood line." There are other breeds there too: Chihuahuas, German Shepherds, an Akita....

There is a huge dog fighting problem in our area and almost certainly the rash of stolen pets is linked to this problem.

In January 2014 Jody Lowery with KTBS reported on the local dog fighting epidemic:

 Just last November, the SPCA found 16 pit bulls at a property in Gregg County, thought to have been used in dog fighting. Those dogs are said to be linked to an August multi-state bust involving Texas. It was the second largest in history where 367 dogs were originally rescued across the South. Then in March, two people were arrested in East Texas and nearly 100 dogs seized.

Lowrey points out that this area is perfect landscape for dog fighting because of all our rural areas and piney woods.  Lots of places to hide.  This is a nasty business that the perpetrators would like to keep hidden; it comes with a variety of other crimes.  Drugs, gambling, theft top the list.

Just two months after Lowery's report, a dog-fighting ring in Sabine parish was discovered:

Ten people were arrested in Sabine Parish over the weekend, accused of dog fighting. 

Saturday, around 11:00 p.m., the Sabine Parish Sheriff's Department along with several deputies from the DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Departed, executed a raid on a suspected dog-fighting operation on Hicks Drive. 

Two pit bulls were reportedly in the pit at the time of the raid. The dogs were taken to the Sabine Animal Shelter. Their condition as well as the condition of other animals on the property are unknown at this time. 

According to the Many Police Department's Facebook page, ten people, from as far away as Gibsland, Louisiana, were arrested and two juveniles were also at the scene. 

What police found there was horrible.

This is a real problem in our area and it's past time we faced it and did something about it.

There seems to be a number of factors contributing to this problem:

1.  The laws and penalties are not severe enough; the laws on the books are not clear enough.

2.  Dog-fighting is so secret and so hidden that not enough of the right people know it's a problem.

3.  It's a horribly unpleasant subject and any article about it often comes with graphic photos of abused and mutilated dogs; nobody wants to see that.  (How often do you change the channel or mute the TV when those poor shelter dogs look at you through cages while Sarah McLaclan's ASPCA commercial comes on?  Hell, even she changes the channel!)

4.  It's dangerous to get too involved in exposing these rings; this is big money.  These people are serious.

So, what can we do about this?

First, learn about what's going on. Pay attention in your neighborhood and learn who your neighbors are and their pets.

Monitor social media sites such as Shreveport/Bossier Lost and Found Pets or Lost and Found Pets Shreveport/Bossier on Facebook.  If they're stealing dogs in your neighborhood, you'll probably hear it there first.

Do not leave your dogs unattended outside.  If you work and you have a dog that stays outside during the day be sure your gates are locked and your neighbors can help keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

Be part of your neighborhood - help watch for suspicious vehicles or suspicious activity.  If you see someone stealing a dog, call 911 just like you would if you saw someone breaking into a house.

Educate yourself.  The Animal Legal Defense Fund is an excellent resource and has a great section on Pet Theft.  Follow them on Facebook.

Many of these stolen dogs are used for bait dogs.  Like many people, I knew what a bait dog was, but it wasn't until a few months ago when I helped rescue a starved, abandoned dog that I learned what really happens to bait dogs.  This dog had odd indentions on his tail that looked like a rubber band had been left on it for too long.  I assumed someone had tried docking his tail with a rubber band; the vet tech told me that dog fighters tie the dog's tail to a stake in a dog fighting ring so he can't get away.

This dog had defense wounds all over his face and legs; his ears were chewed all along the edges, and he was starved.  His feet were flat because he had never the proper nutrition necessarily for the bones in his feet to develop properly.

And still this dog was full of love and trust for the human that rescued him.

This dog was a bait dog in Bossier City.

We must do something about this problem in our area.  We have to lobby our legislators to strengthen the laws and up the penalties.  I firmly believe that the jury in the Braveheart trial came back with a verdict of "Simple Animal Cruelty" against abuser Gabriel Lee because the difference between "Simple" and"Aggravated Animal Cruelty" was just one word - intent.  The distinction between the misdemeanor and the felony was too close to distinguish.

This must be changed.  The language must be rewritten.

Not everyone is a dog lover; I get that.  But this is a real problem in our community and has ramifications for us all.  The thieves that steal dogs are horrible people that will go to any lengths to protect their cash source.  They are dangerous.

Go here and get started.

New Orleans Jazz Musician Brutally Beaten Needs Help

There is no other city in the world like New Orleans.

All too often these days when we hear "New Orleans" we think "Katrina."  The association is probably unavoidable for some years to come, but there is so much more to New Orleans, of course.

Part of what I love about New Orleans is the music.  The food is great, but the music is the heartbeat of the city.  New Orleans jazz has a special place in my heart.

If you want to know what New Orleans sounds like, check out this video of the Steamboat Willie Jazz band playing at Cafe Beignet:



You see that bass player in the back?  He needs a little help right now.

The bass player is Doug Potter and he was savagely beaten after leaving his regular Cafe Beignet gig last Monday night.  Now he is comatose in a New Orleans hospital with a feeding tube; they had to drill holes in his skull to relieve the pressure.   By all accounts Potter is a fine man and much beloved by everyone.  He was just walking to his car to meet his wife after work when he was attacked.  The New Orleans police have arrested one of the thugs who did this and are looking for another one.

Meanwhile, Potter's medical bills are mounting.  His friends are trying to help with fundraising benefits.  You can read more about that here.

If you have any spare change and are looking for a good deed to do, consider tossing a few bucks Potter's way.  An account has been set up at Capital One for Doug.  You can call the branch in the French Quarter at 504-533-3586.

It would be a nice thing to do.

(Photo credit:  Brenda Mannon via NOLA.)

Rampant Crime in Shreveport: SIGIS Reminds You to Be Safe

It's that time of year.  The thugs are out and crime is up.

Consider this post a PSA to remind you to be careful and watchful when you are out.   It seems like every time I turn on the news there is another burglary or hold up.

Just this morning, around 10:00 a.m., a 72-year old man was severely beaten at his home on Line Avenue.  If you don't live around here, where this man lived is a high end neighborhood on a busy four lane street just two blocks from a large, upscale shopping district. 

Yesterday a woman was robbed at gunpoint at the Capital One ATM on Youree Drive (another very busy main street).  Two men approached her car, one hit her in the head with his gun and demanded cash.  He shot at her as she drove away.  

Day before yesterday a man went into Johnny's Pizza on Gilbert, pulled a gun on an employee, took money from the register, an employee's purse, and cell phone.

I can keep going, but you get the idea.

Times are hard, the holidays are upon us, and desperate criminals are becoming bolder.

Watch yourself out there and keep your doors locked (both car and home).  Don't open your door to anyone you don't know.   When you leave a store, keep a vigilant eye as you walk to your car.  If you see anything suspicious go back inside and ask a security officer to escort you or watch you walk to your car.  Take a friend with you when you shop and avoid shopping at night if you can.  Park in a well lit area.

Here are some good safety tips when you are out shopping but that 72-year old man mentioned above was not out shopping.  Remember to be cautious at home, too.

Be careful out there.

The Casey Anthony Trial Is Wrapping Up: Anybody Care?

Since I can't move around too much right now I am parked on the couch with the television on.  The Casey Anthony trial is wrapping up today and going to deliberations.  I've watched precious little of this trial and followed it only in passing.

Anyone out there watching this thing?  Anyone care?  Fox News has been covering this thing like the OJ trial - practically wall to wall and all with a parade of "experts."

What do you think?