Crime Stoppers Coordinator Jimmy Darbonne, right, presents KBON 101.1 owner Paul Marx with promotional coffee cups for the station’s help with the crime tips program. With them is Marx’s grandson, Chaynery Johnson, son of Angela & Willie Johnson.

Pictured Above: Crime Stoppers Coordinator, Jimmy Darbonne, Vice President of Crime Stoppers, Kathy Knight and Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz

Pictured above from left: Mario Corzo (Winner of  the RemingtonTurkeyShotgun), Crime Stoppers Vice President, Kathy Knight, and President Gerald Roberts working hard at the Promotion sponsored by KSLO/KOGM Radio and Sonic.

St. Landry Crime Stoppers recently raffled off a Remington 870 Camo Turkey Shotgun, valued at $500, that was graciously donated by A Plus Pawn Shop in Opelousas, La. Tickets were sold at $1.00 each and came in a book of 10. Drawing was held Monday, July 6, 2009. Over 4,900 were sold. The winning ticket was held by Mario Corzo, owner of MMI, of Opelousas. St. Landry Crime Stoppers would like to thank all of those that purchased a ticket, and thanks for their cooperation and support of our crime stoppers program!!

Pictured Above: St. Landry Crime Stoppers Coordinator Jimmy Darbonne and Sheriff Bobby Guidroz share a humerous moment while hosting the first annual St. Landry Crime Stoppers installation and awards banquet.

The St. Landry Crime Stoppers program is going strong in the two years since its inception, and is looking to expand further, program coordinator Jimmy Darbonne said during the organization’s first annual banquet and awards ceremony, which also recognized the parish’s ‘top cops’, at the Steamboat Warehouse in Washington, La.
Darbonne also said that Crime Stoppers hopes to breathe new life into a three-year-old double homicide in Eunice through a deck of playing cards.
Crime Stoppers is a non-profit program that offers anonymous cash incentives for information leading to an arrest in criminal investigations in need of more information.
Darbonne said that since the program began in 2007, St. Landry Crime Stoppers has led to 19 arrests, 39 cases cleared, $128,650 worth of property recovered and $129,150 cash recovered.
However, the success of Crime Stoppers cannot be judged solely on the basis of statistics, Board President Gerald Roberts said.
Roberts said that the program also promotes awareness of crime as a problem, gives communities a means of fighting back against crime, and improves communications between law enforcement, the judiciary, the media and the community.
St. Landry Crime Stoppers will also be participating in a new program designed to clear cold cases by soliciting information from prison inmates.
Crime Stoppers of Baton Rouge is collecting information across the state regarding unsolved crimes; the information will be printed onto a deck of playing cards.
“Those cards are passed out at all the Department of Corrections institutions, and prisons such as Angola, in hopes of getting information from these criminals who are in jail, to help us solve these unsolvable crimes,” Darbonne said.
Other states have used the ‘cold-case decks’ to successfully solicit information from inmates and their families regarding unsolved crimes and finally putting these cases to rest.
Darbonne said that three cases from St. Landry Parish were submitted, including the Courville murders, a double homicide that took place in Eunice in January 2006, involving the brutal murder of an elderly couple, Youric and Mary Courville, during an apparent robbery.
The program also recognized the assistance it has received from law enforcement with an induction ceremony for outstanding officers in each municipality and the sheriff’s department; the ceremony took a particularly poignant note, in that the Opelousas Police awardee was Sgt. Roblis Gallow, who recently died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident July 4.
“He was a true public servant,” said Opelousas Police Chief Perry Gallow, no relation. “From Day One, until the very end, Sgt. Gallow was committed to do everything that he could to make St. Landry Parish a better place.”
Sgt. Gallow’s brother, Earl Gallow, accepted the award on behalf of the family.
Sgt. Avé Sonnier was the Eunice award recipient. Other recipients were Joseph Noel (Loreauville), Jeffrey Guilbeau (Grand Coteau), Jesse Martin, Jr. (St. Landry Sheriff’s Dept.), Mike Potter (Port Barre), Peter Guidry (Sunset) and Wayne Pitcher (Palmetto).
Crime Stoppers profiles a new case each week on local television and radio. Anyone with information is encouraged to call and leave information anonymously. If the information leads to an arrest, a reward will be paid out.
To date, St. Landry Crime Stoppers has paid out $6,300 in rewards; the rewards are funded through private donations to the program.
More information on the program, unsolved homicides in St. Landry Parish and the Crime of the Week can be found online at www.stlandrycrimestoppers.com.

OPELOUSAS — When Jimmy Darbonne ends his weekly St. Landry Crime Stoppers radio and television updates with a message in French, it adds a unique aspect to a parishwide program still in its infancy.

“Using the French is what sets St. Landry Parish apart from the other 16 parishes in the state that have a Crime Stoppers program. St. Landry is the only parish so far that includes speaking in French as part of its program,” said program coordinator Darbonne, who has spoken French all his life.

Using French is also an attempt to make those who might feel excluded in stopping crime become more active participants, he said.
“This area is largely populated with French-speaking citizens and by using the French along with the English, it’s making these people feel they are a part of the parish.

“It was something (St. Landry Sheriff Bobby Guidroz) felt was necessary when we started Crime Stoppers in 2007, since such a large part of our population is still French-speaking,” Darbonne said.

In addition to attracting bi-lingual listeners, Darbonne said there is another significant reason.

Darbonne and Gerald Roberts, president of the St. Landry Crime Stoppers Board, said that elderly residents, many of whom are lifetime French speakers, are sometimes reluctant to report crimes.

“Crime is also affecting the older generation. When we started Crime Stoppers two years ago, they were of the mindset that if they spoke up, it maybe could lead to crimes of retribution against them,” said Roberts.

Darbonne said many of the parish’s older residents are afraid to venture outside their homes, because they might witness a crime outside in addition to becoming victims.

While not everyone understands what Darbonne is saying when he addresses his audiences in French, he says the message is effective.

“People will come up to me in a store or somewhere and say they might not know what we’re talking about when we use French, but they say they like it and don’t stop doing it,” Darbonne said.

In the 26 months that Crime Stoppers has been active, Darbonne said the effort has led to 19 arrests, the disposition of 39 other criminal cases and $128,650 in recovered stolen property.

He said $6,300 in reward money has been released by the Crime Stoppers board to individuals whose tips have led to arrests.
Guidroz said he decided to develop a Crime Stoppers program in St. Landry.

“My phone rang late one night and there was a woman, the victim of a break-in where her credit cards were stolen and she was a victim of assault. This happened the year before I became sheriff and she was begging me to re-open the case.

“I got the case file and went through it and the woman was able to provide a great description of the suspect and the vehicle. We featured the case on Lafayette Crime Stoppers and the next day we got five phone calls with tips.

“Vermilion Parish law enforcement had found the van involved and there were also receipts for the used credit cards that were in the lady’s purse. We were able to track the suspect to the Calcasieu Parish Jail and have him brought back here for arrest.

“It was then that I realized we needed a Crime Stoppers here in St. Landry, and we needed the help of our citizens,” said Guidroz.

Roberts and Darbonne said it has been hard to create an effective program in St. Landry.

The elderly and youths were especially reticent about reporting crime, Roberts said.

“The first year, people were not responding. We were just not getting many calls and tips,” Darbonne said.

Roberts said young people have begun accepting “that crime is a part of life. That made them unwilling to talk about crimes of which they may have had knowledge.”

The Crime Stoppers program is now making progress in convincing the younger residents that crime can be stopped by making them aware of arrests and the effort being made to stop criminals.
One other problem in establishing St. Landry’s program has been funding, Roberts said.

The Sheriff’s Office furnishes Darbonne with a Crime Stoppers office and a vehicle, but the daily operation is dependant upon fundraising and donations, said Roberts.

Occasionally fundraisers are held to provide addition funding for expenses and the rewards.

Darbonne said like in other parishes, St. Landry citizens’ tips are anonymous.

“That means if you call the office there is no caller ID. We won’t know who you are. If there is a reward, the person obtaining it also won’t be identified,” he said.

mrs jackie jonnson of sunset was the lucky winner... thanks to all who purchased tickets.. your participation is greatly appreciated.

http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20104210308

St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Jimmy Darbonne holds a cold-case deck of cards with pictures of victims involved in cold cases throughout Louisiana. The two cards on the left are St. Landry Parish victims.

Law enforcement officials are hoping a simple deck of playing cards will lead to answers and arrests in some of Louisiana`s top unsolved crimes.

Each card in the deck features a different homicide, missing persons case or other major crime from throughout the state, including two from St. Landry Parish.

The seven of clubs highlights the Jan. 10, 2006, murder of Mary Ann Sittig Courville, 70, and her husband, Youric Courville, 83. Their bodies, which had been stabbed multiple times, were found that morning in their Boudreaux Street home in Eunice.

Police have spend years trying to solve that crime and are hoping the deck will turn up new leads.

The five of spades features a picture and description of Sandra Burris, a then 35-year-old who was last seen leaving her job at an Opelousas restaurant in July 2005.

Inmates have a lot of time on their hands and card games are one of few ways they have to pass that time.

Every time they play a game, the victims and the crimes will stare up at them from the cards. The cases will be discussed.

The hope is that an inmate will know something and be willing to come forward.

"This is the segment of the population that, up until today, we have been unable to reach," said Sid Newman, executive director of Crime Stoppers in Baton Rouge.

Any inmate with information will be allowed to anonymously share those details through Global Tel Link, the DOC`s phone service provider.

"That was an important part of us doing this," said DOC Secretary James LeBlanc. "If it`s going to be successful, it has to be anonymous."

Jimmy Darbonne with St. Landry Crime Stoppers said agencies such as his from throughout the state where asked to submit information on their outstanding cases. He submitted three cases, two of which made it into the deck.

He said other states have successfully used such "cold-case decks"

to gather information from inmates and their families regarding unsolved crimes.

"Hopefully, this will allow us to finally putting these cases to rest," Darbonne said.

"It`s an additional tool for law enforcement," LeBlanc said. "It breathes some life back into the case. It`s about the victims and their families and trying to come to some resolution."

Newman said the first 52 featured cases were selected in an effort to represent a wide cross-section of the state. In addition, officials targeted cases they felt had a stronger possibility of getting "immediate action," he said.

In addition, thanks to assistance from the Louisiana Lottery Corp., 10,000 decks will be available for the public at all Crime Stoppers offices.

Citizens can also review the information from the cards online at crimestoppersbr.com.

http://eunicetoday.com/view/full_story/8820861/article-St--Landry-Crime-Stoppers-reports-having-recovered-over--140K-of-stolen-property?instance=secondary_stories_left_column