ABBEVILLE, La. (KLFY) -- Councilman Francis Plaisance of District B is hoping city police can come up with a solution to help an ongoing issue for residents living on St. Peter Avenue. He expressed that since getting into office he has had constant calls from residents about weekend noise complaints; crowds of young people concentrated in one area blocking traffic and raising safety concerns. 

“I'm just really concerned about it," said Plaisance. "This is my district, and I feel like the people in this area right here, some of them are elderly. They have a right for it to be peaceful and quiet. These kids have no right to be on the street every Friday and Saturday nights, cutting up, their dancing, their smoking. They're drinking, they're barely dressed."

Plaisance said residents are telling him the people gathering are not from the area. He said he was told the police would come out and disperse the crowd but once the police are gone the crowd returns. He said residents have had enough.

“It’s been going on far too long and it has to stop and that's the position I'm taking too. Now I'll work with the chief. Whatever I can do; the city council can do. I'm sure the rest of the council will agree with me. We'll do whatever we can to assist him if it's something that we can do and certainly we are in support of whatever he will do to get this cleared up, but I would hope that this Friday night, I don't have to get a phone call again, I don't know if it means putting an officer here. I don't know what the solution is, but it just needs to be resolved. I'm not in law enforcement, but it's my district and my people in my district. I want them to be able to rest and be at peace. These are retired people,” said the councilman. “If there is anything that we can do to assist him in enforcing the law as far as these kids on the street like this and cutting up like that, then I want him to let us know. We will do the best that we can to help him.”

Longtime elderly residents expressed fear of sitting on their porch and shootings breaking out. Sandra Shelvin, a concerned resident spoke with News 10 as she was checking on her mother’s home. 

"Right now, we are having problems with the young kids," said Shelvin. "They are going to everyone's home. They are burglarizing, they're also vandalizing and they're also gambling under areas where we don't even gamble and it's not allowed and it's all the time of the night and they are shooting. They put guns under your homes, under your car, if you have anything that's not locked down, they are picking it up and taking it.”

The topic was placed on the city council agenda on May 20. In the meeting recording Chief Mike Hardy said data collected since January showed they have only two reported calls about the area. One was a recent call on April 16 about the concerns on St. Peter Ave.

He expressed that residents should call him if they see a crowd and give the date and time. Then police will check the cameras in the area and handle the concern. Councilman Plaisance said residents expressed they have been calling law enforcement but feel it is falling on deaf ears. He hopes a solution can be met to resolve the residents' concerns.

You can view the full meeting here starting at timestamp 35:51 until around 43:00. News 10 reached out to the chief for comments and have not received anything by news time. 

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