Task force will add funds to drug fight

The Terrebonne Parish Council Budget and Finance Committee was expected to adopt a resolution Monday evening to make official the working relationship between law enforcement agencies.

Councilman John Navy said he could not imagine any difficulty in passing a resolution that officially forms a multi-jurisdictional anti-drug task force with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office and Houma Police Department.

“The sheriff and HPD have always worked together,” Navy said. “The sheriff has taken a proactive approaching to fighting crime. While the police take care of the City of Houma the sheriff has a lot to deal with not only online, but with all the bayous where activity takes place.”

Navy said the cooperative effort makes it easier for law enforcement to cover more ground and make the most of existing resources. “I think they also want to make sure people understand this is a coordinated effort, and local law enforcement is standing together as one no matter if it is city police or the parish sheriff’s department,” he said.

“Basically this is us working with the sheriff’s office,” Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis said. “Drugs don’t have any boundaries. By doing this, we not only have a joint effort, but it is easier to be accepted for various [federal and state] grants to fight drugs. By having the official task force it enables us to get more money.”

“We have always worked together the problem was we didn’t have a large contingency working just on the task force,” Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. “I have about 15 people in my narcotics divisions and I want to make sure people know we are arresting people involved with drugs.”

Larpenter said the task force helps insure having regular officers assigned to a job that requires long term investigations and having agents aware of the details involved in making a case and making it stick.

“If you can join forces together you can do a lot more,” Larpenter said. “It is good to have a task force to let people know we are not only working with the city, but we are working with the state and federal agencies as well.”

Any cost associated with the anti-drug task force is already covered by each law enforcement agency’s separate budget. The primary change is having each law enforcement agency dedicate personnel, equipment and facilities to specific drug fighting efforts.

The Houma Police Department and Terrebonne Sheriff’s Office have previously worked together as members of a multi-jurisdictional task force for investigating and prosecuting drug cases. The resolution assists the sheriff’s office and police department to accomplish their goals.

The measure is expected to be approved and carried over to a public hearing before the regular parish council meeting on Nov. 28.