Crime

The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to roll back the rate charged to inmates by about 25 percent. With an amendment made Wednesday, the lowered rate only applies to calls to family members, clergy, legal counsel, and some government entities, including schools. The charge for calls will drop when existing prison phone service contracts end or in two years.

The five commissioners approved the rate change without objection after an unusually lengthy and at times tense debate.

Residents of Melrose East and Mayfair will decide Saturday whether to charge themselves extra parcel fees to pay for more security in their neighborhoods.

WRKF’s Ashley Westerman visited one of the neighborhoods in Baton Rouge that already has a crime prevention district to see what impact it’s had.

Ninth District Metro Councilman Joel Boe’  has issued a press release saying he supports the idea of consolidating law enforcement in Baton Rouge.

The most recent CityStats survey released by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation said that residents are more scared and more concerned that crime will become worse, despite overall crime in the city declining.

To find out why that is, WRKF's Ashley Westerman spoke with LSU Professor of Sociology Edward Shihadeh about the study.

And he said the fear of crime is typically out of proportion with actual crime stats.