Past sheriff faces former deputy

One closely watched race during this election season is that of Terrebonne Parish sheriff. In this shootout, former sheriff Jerry Larpenter is being challenged by one of his former deputies, Norman Schieffler.

Larpenter held the office for 20 years and made an unsuccessful bid for parish president in 2007. Since then he has been retired, but contends that in his way of thinking he never left public service.

Schieffler was hired by the former sheriff, left the department at one point, started a business and has been working as a part-time deputy. He contends that other than differences of opinion on how to run the department he has no animosity regarding his former boss.

When it comes to what each man sees as essential needs in the sheriff’s office, Larpenter said a lack of strong leadership is his main concern.

“I helped spearhead the building of a new detention center and for 22 years I balanced my budget and increased deputy pay from $1,000 a month to $30,000 a year. I built the new motor pool and started the DARE program in schools,” Larpenter said. “I’m tight and conservative. When I left the sheriff’s office we had $10 million in the bank.”

Larpenter said he wants to bring back accountability to the position and will not make promises “for the sake of making promises during an election.”

The former sheriff said he is running on his experience and that those who were present during his tenure know him and recognize his accomplishments.

Schieffler identified his main concern as being a need to make better use of personnel for the public good. “We need more frontline people to match what we have in administration,” he said. “Right now, we have one deputy to 15,000 residents. Right now, we have 24 detectives and only nine [deputies] taking complaints. I want to spend more time preventing crime than coming after, picking up pieces.”

Working to influence priorities in jail usage was another issue Schieffler identified. He said he wants to see better use of jail space and more concentration on capturing and holding serious criminals, rather than concentration given to lesser offenders.

“Every time we arrest and jail somebody it costs $2,000. If a judge gives them a $500 fine we are in the hole $1,500,” Schieffler said. “And not everybody has someone who can make bail for them.”

Saying he knows what it is like being on the front lines, Schieffler expressed concern for what he identified as past incidents in which deputies have issued citations or made arrests only to be reprimanded by superiors because the offender was the relative of a political or well-known business figure. “You hire someone to do a job, let them do the job,” he said. “Law enforcement should have no favoritism.”

“I never had a nickel invested in a side business, so I can [devote] my full time to the people of this parish,” Larpenter said regarding his opponent.

“If he wanted to be sheriff he should not have left the office,” Schieffler responded.

Larpenter said he has the experience working as sheriff that his opponent cannot match. Schieffler said he represents a more contemporary way of addressing crime and public safety. Voters will have their say on Oct. 22.