It’s been one year today since the re-established New Iberia Police Department started patrolling the city again after nearly 14 years.

City officials addressed last year’s progress during a public state of the city address tonight at the Sliman Theatre.
Highlights included crime stats, a departmental overview of the city, the impact of grants and growth.
New Iberia Police Chief Todd D’Albor, said, “We went in with community policing philosophy. We knew we needed to engage our community build the trust and make sure that the community could make a phone call or call us and talk to us and let us know what they’re seeing and it’s working. That’s why you see the success rate you’re seeing.”

Last year, New Iberia saw the return of its police department after a nearly 14 year hiatus.

Fed up with rising crime rates, voters went to the polls in 2017 to get their department back. 

Today, Chief D’Albor said that the department has a 95.7% solve rate on all major crimes throughout this past year, along with a reduction of major crimes of 73.86%.  
“We’ve had tremendous outpouring of support from our community. Obviously I think everybody in this area knows the issues that New Iberia faced and years in the past with this crime issues,” explained Chief D’Albor.

On the economic front, New Iberia Mayor Freddie Decourt says 38 new businesses were opened in 2019.

“You have to be a marketable City. Be safe,” added Mayor Decourt. “I think the crime stats are showing we’re getting there and the combination of that and some incentives gives me the ability to contact developers to reach out and keep doing what we’re doing.”

One resident who notices a positive difference in New Iberia is Michelle Meche. She’s lived in New Iberia since 1992.

“Through the work of the mayor and with the new police department and all it seems to really be on the upswing now. We lost people to other cities closer to Lafayette to the big city but now it seems like the appeal of New Iberia is sparkling more. There are more places to eat. There more places to shop. There’s less crimes. It’s making it a whole lot appealing to live in this beautiful little town,” added Meche.