VIDALIA &8212; A population increase in the parish due to Katrina has crime on a slight rise &8212; though murder is down &8212; local law enforcement officials said.

&8220;Anytime your population grows crime is going to grow, but we are fortunate here compared to other places,&8221; Vidalia Police Chief Billy Hammers said.

No exact count on the number of Katrina evacuees still in the area is known, but last month, the public school district had 130 evacuee students.

In the months immediately following Katrina, the total number of parish evacuees was over 1,000.

Parish-wide, assaults by firearm, armed robberies and larceny crimes are up, Sheriff Randy Maxwell said, statistics he also said could be an effect of Katrina.

&8220;Anytime you have 22 people living in the same house together things can get irritable,&8221; Maxwell said.

Vidalia saw an increase in aggravated battery, going from one shooting and one stabbing in 2004 to two shootings and one stabbing so far this year.

Armed robberies in Vidalia have dropped from four in 1997 to one this year.

But it&8217;s the homicides the parish is best at avoiding, Maxwell said.

In 2001 there was one parish murder, in 2005 there was one, but so far this year, there have been none.

Vidalia hasn&8217;t had a murder in recent years, but did have a negligent homicide and a vehicular homicide. Maxwell said he thinks the key to keeping residents safe is a working relationship between agencies like the sheriff&8217;s office and VPD.

&8220;I don&8217;t like to brag, but I do think a great factor to crime going down is due to the cooperation between the parish police agencies,&8221; Maxwell said.

Yet, the parish still battles drug abuse, and drugs are a factor in nearly every crime, officials said.

&8220;Over 80 percent of crime is directly or indirectly drug related,&8221; Maxwell said.

Judge Leo Boothe agreed, saying the drug problem is nothing new.

&8220;Drug activity generates other crimes,&8221; he said.

&8220;That&8217;s consistent, yet changes flavor. In one area it&8217;ll pop up and be suppressed, then it&8217;ll pop up in another area.&8221;

Still, Concordia&8217;s drug problem isn&8217;t as big as the one other towns and parishes face, Boothe said.

&8220;The problem is addressed across the board by law enforcement,&8221; he said.

&8220;There is a lot of effort and funds devoted toward combating drugs.&8221;

Boothe said he&8217;s seen a little spike in cases coming through his courtroom lately, but overall &8212; in recent years &8212; crime is down, he said.

Crime statistics from Ferriday were unavailable.