Local vape shops coming under fire, need policies coming

The Shreveport Police Department saw an issue it wanted to address. So, the police took their concerns to Mayor Tom Arceneaux.

“We have had a number of raids of vape shops that have involved having underage patrons and also involving illegal contraband of various kinds,” Arceneaux said.

The police department brought the issues to the mayor, along with its ideas for tackling the problem.

“They actually brought me a draft of the ordinance that they had really worked on,” Arceneaux said. “I gave it to the city attorney’s office. The city attorney’s office made some recommendations. We had to figure out where in the code of ordinances to put it.”

Once those matters were resolved, the proposal was completed and presented on first reading to the city council on Aug. 26. The proposal seeks “to enact Chapter 11 sections 1 through 131 of the City of Shreveport Code of Ordinances relative to vapor product retailers and shops and to otherwise provide with respect thereto.”

“We have had a number of raids of vape shops that have involved having underage patrons and also involving illegal contraband of various kinds,” the mayor said. “What this ordinance is going to do is not permit anyone under 21 to enter the stores. That’s part of the issue we have had. They already can’t buy. This way they won’t be able to enter the store for stores that derive more than 25 percent of their revenues from vape sales.”

The proposal also includes regulations beyond these restrictions.

“It will restrict their hours,” Arceneaux said. “And it will ultimately require a license and then will require the equivalent of an ABO card for employees.”

If passed, the ordinance will regulate only retailers who derive more than 25 percent of their income from vape sales. It will not affect convenience stores, drug stores or other establishments that sell smaller volumes of vape supplies.

Arceneaux said Baton Rouge recently enacted similar ordinances for some of the same reasons. He added that the regulations likely will be phased in.

“The age and hour requirements are likely to be passed and have an effective date with the regular date,” he said.

“The licensing will have an effective date a little later to give the police time to put into place the administrative procedures that will be required.”

The end goal, Arceneaux said, is public safety.

“We are hopeful that it will cut down on underage vape sales,” he said. “It also creates the possibility of inspections, which will cut down on the contraband. It is a legal product, and some people are using it with good judgment. We’re really after the ones who are not.”

Cedar Grove police substation advances

The city of Shreveport accepted a bid for the construction of its third new Police Department substation. Testament Construction submitted the lowest bid at $1,794,000, according to a news release.

The Cedar Grove Substation will be in Cedar Grove Park at the corner of West 70th Street and St. Vincent Avenue, adjacent to Interstate 49. Once complete, it will serve southeast Shreveport and the surrounding neighborhoods.

It will be the third and final substation authorized by voters in the 2021 Public Safety Bond issue. They are:

• The Monkhouse Drive substation, near Shreveport Regional Airport, opened last month.

• The North Market Street substation, currently under construction and expected to open by next spring.

• The Cedar Grove substation, projected to open by late next summer.

“These substations reflect our commitment to stronger community policing and improved response times,” Arceneaux said in the release. “I want to thank the Perkins administration for initiating this project through the 2021 bond issue, and I am grateful to the citizens of Shreveport who supported it. Our administration is proud to carry this work forward and deliver on this important investment in public safety.”

Odds and ends

As the Block by Block initiative to clean up Shreveport neighborhoods enters its final stages, Arceneaux said the volunteer program encountered a problem on Aug. 23. However, it was a welcome problem to have.

“We had so many volunteers with Shreveport Green that we ran out of our green vests,” he said. “We had more volunteers than we had vests. It was really great.”

And with the end of the year around the corner, the mayor said his administration already is working on its next budget.

“The budget submittal is due Oct. 1,” he said. “We are working very hard on that. Working hard on our priorities and moving money around.”