Safewise – a home security company with a mission to create safe homes and communities – has listed DeRidder in the top 10 safest cities in Louisiana,

The company compiles, analyzes and reports on information from 2022 provided by the FBI, Bureau of Justice, U.S. Census Bureau and the Gun Violence Archive when ranking cities.

During the ranking process, Safewise considers the population and median income of each municipality.

Overall, Louisiana violent crime (VC) rate and property crime (PC) rates are higher than the national average, with VC sitting at 6.6 crimes per 1,000 people and PC at 26.7 crimes per 1,000 people.

DeRidder’s VC and PC rates are below the national averages. The national VC rate is four, while the national PC rate is 19.3 In DeRidder, the rates sit at 3.8 and 16 respectively.

This isn’t the first time that DeRidder has ranked so high, according to Craig Richard, DeRidder chief of police. He was appointed chief in 2019, but has been with the DeRidder Police Department (DPD) since 1993.

The safety of the city is attributed to a community atmosphere that is friendly and collaborative. He referred to DeRidder as a Christian-based community where “people just do what’s right and help each other.”

“In every city, it’s the community that makes it safe. … DeRidder is a very nice mid-sized town in Louisiana. I hear it all the time that people getting out of the military really love the atmosphere here in DeRidder. Sometimes, when these folks retire from Fort Johnson, (they) make DeRidder their home.”

The DPD and DeRidder community “takes care of business in a very efficient manner,” he said.
Richard referenced a long-standing opt-in program called the DeRidder Residential Camera Program, in which consenting homeowners allow DPD to install cameras in their yard.

“They don’t want crime in their neighborhood. … They supply the internet, we supply the camera.”

The footage is accessible to both the homeowner and the DPD, and allows for offsite patrolling, and has assisted DPD in solving various crimes over the years, he said.

Richard was elated when he heard the news about DeRidder’s ranking.

“Like any chief, I was excited that our agency and our sister agency, the sheriff’s office, working together as tightly as we do, make a safe environment for everyone here in our communities to enjoy and have a good time.”

He credits the success to the men and women that work in the agency.

“They work hard everyday, doing their jobs and patrolling their neighborhoods, and we have a very high success rate on solving crimes.”

DPD is a mid-sized, hard working agency with 45 personnel. Twenty-eight of them are sworn officers, but all of them are family.

“Just like on any other job, we work together. We comfort each other whenever we’re down and we pick each other up and push each other to do better and better in any way we can.”

The familial connection extends towards the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office and their “neighbors to the north,” the Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Rosepine, Merryville and Leesville police departments.

The collaborative connections came in handy in August when the Tiger Island Fire threatened Merryville. Richard said DPD, alongside other law enforcement agencies, acted quickly.

“There was no hesitation. We drove straight in like every other fireman or emergency responder. The fire was miles away from us, but we drove to it to help that town out and get those folks out.”