Upcoming fishing rodeos
July 9, 2007Ray Fonseca
July 11, 2007
For the last 15 years, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre has made strides to make his among the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agencies.
As of June 27, Webre will take its effort national.
As president of the National Sheriff’s Association, the Lafourche native will have the ears of lawmakers and groups responsible for funding training, developing laws and promoting enforcement nationwide.
It’s a heady role, sure to better Webre’s department, said former NSA president Ted Kamatchus.
Having an inside connection with lawmakers opened doors, Kamatchus said. Those connections also benefited his department.
“The citizens of Lafourche Parish are extremely lucky to have Sheriff Webre serve as NSA president,” he said. “He will interact at the highest level with the decision makers who fund grants and training for law enforcement agencies.”
Becoming the NSA’s president is a six-year progression through the organization’s ranks. Webre was elected sergeant-at-arms in 2001, and has subsequently moved up from fifth through first vice president.
With an eye on pressing law enforcement matters, Webre set his national agenda, focusing on immigrations, mutual aid response and federal funding for resources and training.
“Immigration issue have impacted many communities, including Lafourche Parish,” he said. “My goal is to work for a reasonable and effective strategy that doesn’t transfer the burden but assists people here legally or otherwise to protect themselves and their families.”
Webre said another top priorities is creating a mutual aid response teams to respond to emergencies with the training, resources and everything needed to quickly, efficiently and effectively save lives and protect property.
“Hurricanes Katrina and Rita taught us a harsh lesson and underscored the need for a deployment mechanism, resource typing, credentialing and a way to sort out issues of liability and reimbursement. If nothing else, we’ve learned that increased levels of bureaucracy decreases efficiency,” Webre said.
Toward that end, he intends to utilize Sheriff’s Mutual Aid Response Teams (SMART).
“Sheriffs agencies throughout the United States are first responders,” he explained. “We are capable, professional and knowledgeable of the area we serve.”
SMART would elevate working relationships between agencies in the event of a disaster.
Paramount to that level of partnership is a communication system that allows local communities to retain control and share crime-fighting information.
Webre’s appointment has earned the praise of several area law enforcement officials.
Current Louisiana Sheriff’s Association President Sid Hebert, who completed the state police academy with Webre in 1982, said, “We were troopers together and we became sheriffs together. His ability to lead was evident the first time I met him. The entire nation is going to benefit from his abilities and skills.”
Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre (right) is the National Sheriff’s Association’s latest president, having been sworn in last week by Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti. The NSA includes over 3,000 U.S. sheriffs. Among his chief priorities in the coming year, Webre said he intends “to create mutual aid response teams to respond to emergencies with the training, resources and everything needed to quickly, efficiently and effectively save lives and protect property.” Foti said of the appointment, “I admire his dedication and commitment to law enforcement and I know he will bring tremendous leadership to the office of president.” * Photo courtesy of Sheriff Craig Webre
