The next push for Hardy is working on getting grants for more police units, vests and radios.

ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY)-- According to stats with the Abbeville Police Department they had 136 shots fired calls. Although there were people injured, there were no deaths in 2023.

For instance, Chief Mike Hardy recalled the numerous shots fired on News Years Eve and New Year's Day. He explained many people were shooting rounds in the air. In one incident he explained some bullets came down through a home. Thankfully, no one was injured. However, the police department is investigating.

“We have swapped for DNA on the rounds," Hardy said. "We received ballistics information that we're going to submit to the crime lab, and if we can prove someone shot these rounds into the air, not even knowing where they were going, they're still guilty of illegal discharge and firing firearms; making someone unsafe and endangering a lot of people in the neighborhood. I don’t know why some people think it's okay to just shoot a gun up in the air or think you're shooting up in the air and shooting your neighbor's house a couple of roads down, but it is not safe. Whatever goes up must come down. Real simple. Kids learned that in elementary school.”

Hardy said going into year 2024, there were considerably less shots fired than going into year 2023, but he expressed there's still a lot of danger because people are shooting their guns.

Back in October, News 10 reported a shooting near the Live Oak Manor Apartments where one man named Roderick Guidry was killed.

"Well we do have a shooting that we believe is accidental because it was the suspects that were shooting at someone, and one of them was shot," Hardy said in regards to the stats. "We haven't proven yet if he [Roderick] was shot intentionally or by accident.”

As the new year has begun Hardy said his department has gained some improvements to help tackle crime such as hiring new officers. He said when he took office in July 2022 the department was about 15 short of personnel. Now there is a need for seven more. In addition, to some of the improvements the officers’ starting pay increased to $40,000 a year, and they have two full-time K9.

“Now, I have a detective and a lieutenant in detectives that can handle any serious calls, taking some of the weight off of the shift supervisors. We get any major calls. We do have detectives now,” Hardy said. “When I first started, we couldn't afford detectives. We didn't have enough manpower.”

He said one of his main focuses is to keep hiring more people to get more personnel on the road.

“I feel like there is a direct correlation between the number of people you have on the road and the amount of crime that you have,” Hardy said. “By being proactive you have the officers out there, people seem less likely to commit a crime. If you show no one out on the street, nobody patrolling people feel like they can get away with almost anything. So they'll shoplift, they'll steal, and they'll shoot. They'll rob, and if they feel like there's a less chance of someone catching them, it's more likely that they'll try to [commit] the crime.”

One unique thing about the police department Hardy said is it is a “young department.” Most of his department probably fits in about two to three years of law enforcement experience, basically averaging four years of experience per officer. There are some with 20 to 30 years of experience so there’s a push to give as much training as possible.

“We’re starting to work together," Hardy said. "You know, a police department is a team of personnel that want to make the town safer, and our guys are starting to work together. At some time you do see some jealousies and people that don't understand the whole story or what's going on but we're starting to work as a family. Everybody's on the same team, and we're just trying to provide the best law enforcement we can with the personnel we have.”

“It's looking good," he continued. "Things are turning up. We’re just looking forward to a prosperous and new year, and we hope everybody in Abbeville and Acadiana have a good year, a good, healthy year and if they need us, we're here, and we're ready for service.”

The next push for Hardy is working on getting grants for more police units, vests and radios.

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