Sheriff Gautreaux Needs More Officers

Sheriff Sid Gautreaux told the Ronald Reagan Newsmaker Luncheon the past 18 months was the hardest in his memory. First, there was the Alton Sterling shooting, followed by protests and demonstrations. Then the assassination of three police officers. This was followed by the Great Flood of 2016, which left much of the parish in devastation.
“It was God who got us through it,” the Sheriff said, “but I hope we never have to go through something like that again.”
Sheriff Gautreaux said one of the greatest needs of his office right now is personnel.  The office is short by 105 positions, he said. “We have a deficit and don’t have the money to hire them,” he said.
The Sheriff’s office is funded primarily by property taxes and has no sales tax revenue.  However, property taxes have not kept up with normal growth. With the limited funds he has, it is difficult to recruit deputies, the Sheriff said, in part because of the negative stereotype of law enforcement officers that has been pushed in recent years.
The Sheriff has been scandal free, and Scott Wilfong asked the Sheriff how he has been able to keep his office so clean. Gautreaux said it all begins with recruitment. “We have felons and drug dealers who apply. So we have to screen people very carefully. We look at their background. We give them a lie detector test. We hire people of character. A few may get by us. If so, they have to correct their behavior, or we get rid of them.”
“The key is hold people accountable and hold yourself accountable!” he said.