(The Center Square) — The Shreveport Police Department shared its year-to-date crime stats during Monday’s administrative conference which showed a significant decline in the city’s crime compared to April 2024. 

As of April 21, there have been 10 homicides this year. When looking at this time last year, the city had 23 homicides. The city had 28 in April 2023. 

“As we are experiencing a decline in our homicide rate, which means our city is much much safer, that trend continues,” said Police Chief Wayne Smith.

Year-to-date reported shootings also show a significant decline since last year. There have been 67 this year compared to 91 in 2024. Shots fired calls also showed a decrease, with 634 this year compared to 950 this time last year. Shots-fired calls include when someone has been injured and has not been injured.

“Since 2021, you can see a consistent decline that we are so thankful for,” said Smith.

Other crimes are significantly decreasing. However, there was a reported increase in sex crime cases, and Smith did not have a clear explanation for why this was occurring. 

There have been 154 reported sex crime cases this year, which is more than the same time last year, 140. 

Other reported crime stats to date this year show 319 vehicle thefts compared to 409 last year. There have been 13 reported armed robberies compared to 28 last year. The department reported 410 non-vehicle burglaries compared to 528 last year, and also 287 vehicle burglaries this year compared to 362 last year. 

According to Smith, Shreveport also leads the state of Louisiana in arrests for driving under the influence. The department reported 13 fatal crashes as of today. 

Crime has been an ongoing issue addressed by the city. Recent reports show an overall decline in all crime over the past five years, which Smith said is due to many initiatives implemented over the past few years.

Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.

(The Center Square) – Ten categories of flags are approved to be flown or displayed on property owned by the state of a political subdivision of the state, says a proposal passed in the North Carolina House of Representatives and awaiting action in the Senate.

The Depoliticize Government Property Act, known also as House Bill 244, was favored 69-43 in a chamber with Republican majority 71-49. Reps. Edward Goodwin of Chowan County and Howard Penny of Harnett County were Republicans against, and Reps. Ray Jeffers of Person County, Abe Jones of Wake County, Dante Pittman of Wilson County and Charles Smith of Cumberland County were Democrats voting aye.

Senate reception of the proposal came Thursday before lawmakers departed Raleigh for an Easter break last week. No sessions are scheduled this week, with resumption in both chambers next week. The upper chamber’s majority is also Republican (30-20).

“Official government flags” that can be flown, says the bill, are that of the United States; North Carolina; any county, city, governmental agency, school or educational facility; military branches; the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag; nations recognized by the United States; any state or territory of the United States; flags of political subdivisions of any state or territory of the United States; and any Indian tribe or group recognized by state or federal law.

Display, bill language says, means not only flag poles but also walls of a facility, employee breakrooms and sidewalks. Museum historical displays are exempt, as are reenactments of prior wars of the United States.

Should the legislation progress to become law, it would be effective Oct. 1.

(The Center Square) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill Monday that would change the state’s legal climate, supporters said.

The tort reform package passed by the General Assembly would require attorneys to focus on actual pain and suffering during a civil trial but does not place a limit on a jury’s award, according to Kemp’s office.

Businesses would only be held responsible for what they “directly control,” according to the bill. 

Supporters said the bill would lower insurance costs in the state.

“My position on this important issue has not changed – these are not anti-lawyer or pro-insurance bills, these are pro-Georgia bills,” said Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. “From the extensive debate we saw on this issue, it is clear that the environment we are in right now is not playing well consistently and something had to change to level the playing field. These much-needed reforms, which I was proud to support, strike a balance by stabilizing insurance costs for businesses and consumers, while increasing transparency and fairness for all Georgia citizens.”

Georgia ranked fourth in the American Tort Reform Association’s “Judicial Hellholes” report, dropping from the top spot only because other states had a larger volume of “abuses,” the organization said. Nuclear verdicts cost Georgians a “tort tax” of $1,372.94 each year, according to the association and costs the state 137,658 jobs annually.

Senate President Pro Tem John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, said the bill “cracks down on predatory litigation financers.”

“This billion-dollar industry, often backed by foreign actors, has no place in our civil justice system,” Kennedy said. “With this legislation, we are upholding the integrity of Georgia’s courts and strengthening consumer protections statewide.”

The issue was Kemp’s top priority during the 2025 session. He threatened lawmakers with a special session if the bill did not pass.

“Today is a victory for the people of our state who for too long were suffering the impacts of an out-of-balance legal environment,” Kemp said.

State business leaders backed the package.

“These new laws will bring much-needed fairness and transparency to a system that has become costly and unpredictable,” said Georgia Public Policy Foundation President Kyle Wingfield. “Georgia has long been recognized as the best state in the nation to do business, and these reforms will help ensure it remains that way.”

Detractors said there was no evidence that it would lower insurance premiums.

Others were afraid the bills would affect claims brought by victims of sex trafficking and rape. The bill was amended to exempt human trafficking victims’ claims.