Larpenter: Houma-Terrebonne one of La.’s safest places to live

Tri-Parish Times

The Houma-Terrebonne region is ranked one of the safest places to live in Louisiana, according to Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter.

Much of this accomplishment is due to the progression that the Sheriff’s Office has made over the past two decades, he said.

Larpenter was the guest speaker at the South Central Industrial Association’s monthly luncheon last Tuesday, a day the association deemed “Sheriff’s Appreciation Day.”

The sheriff said that when he took over the office in 1987, facilities were lacking, the staff was small and they only had a few part-time special units. Since then, the department has undergone tremendous growth.

The TPSO facility now houses a 300-bed jail, has 325 full-time employees and a number of full-time special units.

“When I first started with the sheriff’s department we had about 40 cars,” Larpenter said. “Now we have over 200 take-home cars, which means high visibility and a great feeling of security for the public.”

He said each car is equipped with state-of-the-art technology n including laptop computers.

In addition to its patrol cars, the TPSO also has a motorcycle fleet.

Larpenter said the K-9 unit is another factor adding to the progression of the department. “What we have is a special breed of K-9’s that we patrol with,” the sheriff explained. “They are Belgian Malinois. When I first became sheriff they were $4,000 each n now they have gone up to $12,000 each.”

Larpenter said these K-9’s are very useful to the department. These dogs do patrol work, narcotics detection and crime-scene searches. “One of our handlers caught 12 burglars with the help of these dogs,” he said.

The TPSO also has also branched off into several units in recent years; the Detective unit, Domestic Violence Unit, Narcotics Unit and a Sex Crime Unit are among the most developed, he said.

The Domestic Violence Unit has been met with success since its creation, Larpenter said. “In our office we answer about 2,100 complaints annually,” he added. Around 550 of those ended in arrest and 450 ended in a court summons. Ninety-five percent of those numbers were male and five percent were female, according to Larpenter.

The office’s Sex Crime Unit works hand-in-hand with the Child Advocacy Center and with school counselors. “We handle about 500 to 1,000 cases in Terrebonne Parish each year,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we have this many complaints in our parish but it goes on in every parish across the state and other parts of the country as well.”

With the creation of an official Web site in 1999, the TSPO has developed a new avenue to disperse information.

“The Web site will tell you a little bit about the office and employment opportunities,” Larpenter explained. “But it also lists convicted sex offenders in the parish.”

This number has drastically increased since Hurricane Katrina, Larpenter said. A lot of sex offenders relocated here from New Orleans during the cities evacuation and the months following. The ones that relocated are required by law to register with the parish and are listed on the TPSO Web site.

“We put their picture, address and their conviction on our site. So now the public knows where these people are and if there is one in their neighborhood,” he said.

One of the future problems Larpenter hopes to prevent is the lack of communication during emergencies. He hopes that the TPSO can acquire a portable mobile-receptor tower for use during emergency situations. “We need this to stay connected a to get help when and if we need it,” he said.

Funding for projects such as this may not be a problem for Larpenter. He has saved the parish $25 million this year alone through the deployment of the Inmate Work Program, he said.

Other sheriff’s recognized at the luncheon were Lafourche Sheriff Craig Webre, St. Mary Sheriff David Naquin and Plaquemines Sheriff Jiff Hingle.