Amtrak I-20 passenger rail, squatters, and more – 1 on 1 with Mayor Arceneaux

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – During Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux’s weekly visit to the morning show, he shared updates on some issues that impact residents.

The mayor updated the public on an ordinance that will take effect today and give Shreveport police the authority to enter an abandoned home and arrest squatters.

This new law, known as Operation A.S.K B.L.U.E., allows police to enter a dilapidated home without the owner’s presence and criminalize squatters inside.

The change came about after Highland neighborhood residents suffered from homes being burned down by squatters.

“What they’ll be able to do is simply if they have a report that somebody is occupying a home that’s dilapidated, which is what most of these are, the vast majority of them are dilapidated homes, and they can check to see if there’s a water account and merely those facts are all it takes to violate the ordinance,” explains Mayor Arceneaux.

If you would like to report squatters, call Shreveport police.

The mayor also gave an update on the I-20 passenger rail, which will soon run through Shreveport, connecting four major cities, including Dallas and Atlanta.

He says he has been working on this since his first week in office after receiving a phone call from the mayors of Monroe and Ruston.

The mayor says progress is being made.

“We’ve recently met with Amtrak to work on where our terminal would be in Shreveport. and we have a location for it. it’s going to be once we get the line approved, it will be by the sport train facility at Texas and Murphy,” he explained.

The mayor says the project’s finalization is still years away, but significant strides have been made this year.