“In one or two words, what do you want to see in law enforcement?”
That’s the question Sheriff K.P. Gibson asked members of the Rotary Club of Rayne Thursday morning, Sept. 14.
A multitude of answers were thrown out — presence, visibility, enforcement, response time, integrity among them.
Gibson focused first on integrity, noting that, within the past two or three months, no fewer than four law enforcement officials in the immediate area have been arrested — the chiefs of police in Morse, Mermentau, Estherwood and, more recently, Kaplan.
“I think of lot of that goes to training,” Gibson said. “Especially in these smaller communities where the chief might get a couple of hundred dollars a month and has little if any formal training.”
Gibson said he has increased training for his deputies and has mandated that the officers attend regular training updates.
“If you don’t start with training, you can forget about it,” he said.
Those classes, he said, have also been opened to every agency in Acadia Parish at no cost to them.
In addition to the training offered, “it also gives the officers of the different agencies a chance to interact with each other,” he said.
Presence and visibility also were addressed.
Gibson pointed out that, when he took office on July 1, 2016, the sheriff’s office had 16 patrol officers and only four patrol units on the roads at any given time.
There are now 27 patrol officers and six patrol units which not only increase presence and visibility, but also addresses the response time issue.
The average response time had been 48 minutes.
“We set a goal of 20 minutes and instituted new patrol areas and the response time dropped to 33 minutes almost immediately,” he said. “We’re down to an average of 22 or 23 minutes now, but we’re still working on it.”
The sheriff’s office also has added a Crime Suppression Unit that targets certain crimes or crime areas, thus increasing enforcement, according to Gibson.
The sheriff said he believes that illegal narcotics are, basically, “the root” of most crimes committed.
“And I hate to tell you, it’s not going to get better soon,” he told Rotarians. “For every narcotics agent we have, there are literally thousands of people out there using, dealing and selling ... and they have no rule to follow.
“I would love to be able to add more narcotics agents to my staff.”
Gibson also briefly touched on some of the cosmetic changes made in the department since he took over, such as new patrol units and new and different uniforms.
Earlier this month, the sheriff obtained permission from the Acadia Parish Police Jury to move the mechanic shop onto the Capitol Avenue grounds and to construct a new target range there.
“Our mechanic shop is currently located on Highway 90 and it’s in bad shape — leaning way to the right,” Gibson said. “By building the shop adjacent to the jail, we have better control over the prisoners who do a lot of mechanic work for us and it’s just more convenient.”
The current target range, he explained, is on personal property adjacent to the parish owned grounds upon which the sheriff’s office and jail are located.
“It needs a lot of work and we just thought that if we had our own, there would be a lot less liability,” Gibson said.
The new range will be located to the rear and right of the jail.
In closing, Gibson mentioned that the sheriff’s office website — apso.org — has recently been upgrades and “is more user friendly” and invited the public to visit it for more information.
