Shreveport joins #9pmROUTINE crime-fighting campaign

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — A new crime-fighting tool for Shreveport police just kicked off.

It’s #9pmROUTINE, which uses a law enforcement agency’s social media platforms to remind people to lock up for the night beginning at 9 p.m.

Shreveport is far from the first Police Department to utilize the campaign. But it’s among the latest in the country to sign up in recent years.

To get a perspective on such a program, KSLA News 12 turned to a relatively recent home burglary.

The break-in occurred in early September 2017 at the southwest Shreveport home of Mike and Tina Morgan.

Their two dogs were shot during the burglary.

And cellphone video the couple captured after the break-in shows some of the damage the intruders caused.

Now in a different home, Tina Morgan recalled how she had to fight hard after the burglary to not to let it change her too much.

"It will change you forever. You will look over your shoulder more. You don't trust as much. You want to still give. And I've given everything I can to not let it change me."

This is where #9pmROUTINE is intended to help. Police departments throughout the nation, now including Shreveport, send out a social media post at 9 p.m.

“What we want to do is put out a reminder 'Hey, at 9 o’clock every night, just out of habit, go outside, lock your car doors up,” Shreveport police Cpl. Angie Willhite explained.

The reminders also urge people to bring everything inside and to lock their garages, house doors and windows. Turn on all your outside lights, as well.

“Just kind of some theft deterrent measures that you can do every night at 9 p.m., get yourself in the routine,” Willhite said.

Shreveport police kicked off their #9pmROUTINE campaign last week, posting the reminder for the first seven nights straight.

“Then we’re gonna monitor crime trends and post based on kinda when we think things are gonna happen,” Willhite explained.

Tina Morgan, who has moved out of Shreveport, said she likes the idea of the social media reminder.

"I think that it's going to take an entire community to keep each other safe and from preventing each other from being victims of crimes like these."

The only requirement to take part in #9pmROUTINE is to follow the Police Department’s social media page(s).

There’s even a #9pmROUTINE fan page on Twitter.

Copyright 2020 KSLA. All rights reserved.