Caddo Parish District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr., center, speaks to media at a check presentation to local law agencies Friday, June 24, 2016. With Stewart are, from left, Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler, Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator, SPD Chief Willie Shaw and SPD Assistant Chief E.J. Lewis.
For the second time this year, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office has shared forfeiture assets with local law agencies.
Friday, June 24, 2016, Caddo Parish District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr. presented the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office and the Shreveport Police Department with checks totaling $126,313.67, the agencies’ share of drug conviction asset forfeitures this year. Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator accepted a check for $36,632.23 while Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler and Shreveport Chief of Police Willie Shaw accepted a check for $89,681.44.
“Over the last month we’ve filed over 30 judgments in 25 different cases to come up with money,” Stewart said at the presentation ceremony. “For the year that makes us close to $150,000. We’ve given to the Shreveport police Department over $100,000 just this part of the year. We hope to keep up our efforts. We appreciate the job that both law enforcement agencies do to serve and protect. We intend to serve and prosecute and continue to work with both agencies.”
Prator and Shaw said the money would go back into drug enforcement actions.
“These funds have to be plowed back into drug enforcement,” Prator said. “We use it to continue the fight.”
He said the funds are the fruit of hard work by many officers and deputies who through the nature of their work never enjoy the limelight.
“There’s a lot of work that went on behind the scenes,” he said. “These are the people that have the dangerous part of the job. Never forget that. Just in Louisiana we’ve had three shot this week.”
Shaw said the city and parish work together against drug criminals.
“We work hand-in-hand every day combating these dangerous narcotics in our community,” Shaw said, also complimenting “the boots on the street that take that dangerous mission of trying to make it safe for all of us.”
Tyler thanks the Caddo District Attorney’s office for the asset forfeiture proceeds.
“DA Stewart certainly has hit the ground running,” Tyler said. “Him passing money to our police department today is indicative of the fact we are working closely together to combat crime.”
The presentations were made at Shreveport Police Headquarters on Texas Avenue, where in March Stewart presented police leadership with a forfeiture check for $21,412.94 resulting from prosecution arising from a traffic stop by Shreveport Police on Youree Drive in September 2015.