Bossier armed robbery task force to be deployed Friday

Bossier Sheriff Larry Deen will deploy an armed robbery task force on Friday which will operate during the holidays.  The task force will continue its operations at least through January 1, 2011.

The deputies will ride in marked and unmarked, undercover vehicles.  These cars will be anywhere and everywhere in the parish--businesses, schools, parking lots--and the deputies who occupy these vehicles will be in position to respond quickly should the need arise.

"In Bossier Parish over the years, armed robberies have been few and far between during the holidays," Deen said, "but even one would be too many.  This task force is designed to prevent them, if possible, or respond quickly in the event one happens."

The armed robbery task force will focus on prevention and apprehension--preventing armed robberies and apprehending those who commit them.  It is a proactive approach to crime fighting and its aim will be to prevent and/or reduce armed robberies.

"We have done many things to make Bossier Parish one of the safest and most compassionate places in the world," Deen said.  "We were the first law enforcement agency in Northwest Louisiana to implement the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. We established the Bossier Sheriff's Posse, a group of approximately 275 men who volunteer their time to patrol the parish in marked cars, day after day.  'Operation Blessing:  Bossier Parish,' which features a food bank, came into being, primarily to help the elderly, needy people in our parish.

"The armed robbery task force is another on a long list of programs being run by the Bossier Sheriff's Department.  We think this unit will help us deal with those who seek to violate the law, and, in turn, lower our standard of living with their lawlessness.”