PARAGOULD, Ark. (KAIT) – The Paragould Police Department is urging you to be safe as more crime has plagued the city.
In the last couple of weeks, the Friendly City has seen over ten vehicle break-ins, which Sergeant Jason Elms explained happened in different neighborhoods.
He urged residents to be aware of their surroundings.
“This is not the 70′s or 80′s, where you can leave your house, and your vehicles unlocked. Unfortunately, we don’t live in those times anymore,” he said. “You have to put your stuff up; you have to lock your stuff up. Again, the highest volume of our calls as far as break-ins and thefts come from unlocked vehicles”
The warning comes after the city went through a violent day on Tuesday, Oct. 18, where just before
That day, two shootings and a stabbing left officers reeling and the community on edge.
“You know for a few days, we had some people reaching out, whether it be our social media or Facebook page or even calling up here asking, you know, ‘Should we be concerned? Or you know, because of the events that happened that day,” Elms said.
The Paragould Police Department was honest with the community about the incidents.
“They were all isolated. None of the events that happened that day were related to each other. It just, by chance, all happened on one day,” Elms said.
Although they were isolated incidents, the department took steps to learn from the day’s events.
“Assess the situation from our officer’s standpoint, the way they approach things. Assess the safety of the neighborhood, and whether it needs extra attention. Things like that,” Elms said
The department didn’t implement changes after the violent day, but they know their presence goes a long way with making the community feel safe.
“Just being seen it makes the homeowners feel better and the business owners seeing that we are around,” Elms said.
Elms assures Paragould is still a safe place to be.
“The crime rate is not running rampant in Paragould. As I said, we do have our issues you know, such as domestics and break-ins, thefts, things of that sort but it’s still the friendliest city, it’s still a safe place to live,” he said.
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