T’bonne law enforcement awarded federal money

The Houma Police Department has received a $41,905 U.S. Department of Justice grant to upgrade its equipment, said Sgt. Bobbie O’Bryan.

The money came from a Justice Assistance Grant program.

In addition, Terrebonne Parish government and the sheriff’s office have received $2.3 million in reimbursement payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which struck the parish last year, officials said.

For Houma Police, the federal money will fund new flotation devices, helmets, shields, fingerprint kits and night-vision goggles.

The flotation devices are life vests that will be used by officers during storms and flood events, O’Bryan said.

“For boat rescues, they have to walk in water,” he said. Currently, officers have to form human chains, according to O’Bryan. The devices also allow the victims being rescued to stay afloat.

New ballistic helmets, which could be made of Kevlar, will protect officers during high-intensity situations, O’Bryan said.

“Or anything officers may face,” he said, “like searching for narcotics,” he added.

“The units are designed for specially trained officers to handle special situations,” he said. “It’s similar to having a department SWAT team.”

The helmets currently owned by the department have aged, according to O’Bryan.

The department has a limited number of shields, he said, and the ballistic shields acquired with the federal grant money will possibly allow officers to have one on every shift.

The new shields will be able to handle higher-powered ammunition, O’Bryan said.

The fingerprint kits are for vehicle burglaries and have special brushes using magnetic powder, which is less liable to disperse where it’s not needed.

“It’s a cleaner process,” he said. “Some of these kits are not cheap. If not for the grant it would have taken a long time to obtain them. The grants give us the opportunity to come into the 21st century.”

O’Bryan said a previous U.S. Department of Justice grant totaling $172,447 the department received this year and money from the federal stimulus will pay to enhance surveillance cameras downtown and in nearby neighborhoods. The cameras are part of Houma Police’s Operation P.E.A.C.E. (Police Eyes Against Criminal Engagement).

“We’ve been working on it for five years,” O’Bryan said. “We have 80 cameras deployed in the area. They’re at various locations. Some can be seen, some not. Cameras have helped our agency solve crimes.”

A camera caught a homicide occurring near the Terrebonne Parish Courthouse two years ago. The footage was used in court, he said.

The money will also pay to purchase repeaters and microwave data equipment to improve the department’s interoperability system. The equipment will establish microwave hops to help develop the department’s redundancy system, allowing communication with the state if equipment is damaged, O’Bryan said.

The Houma Police Department has received $355,815 in state and federal grants so far this year, he said.

The St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office was granted $20,784 from the same Justice Department program to provide basic officer training and to purchase helmets, neck protectors, ammunition, traffic wands, traffic vests, Tasers and training weapons, according to a release from the office of U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-Napoleonville).

The grant will pay for radios and batteries as well, said John Sonnier, sheriff’s office spokesman.

The release also states the Thibodaux Police Department is receiving $14,978 from the program to purchase portable radios, a radio base station, an infrared video surveillance camera for the mobile command unit and video cameras for the internal affairs and criminal investigations units.

FEMA will reimburse Terrebonne Parish $1.3 million for repairs performed on three roadway shoulders damaged by floodwaters from Hurricane Ike, said Parish Manager Al Levron.

Work on Beatrous Road, Falgout Canal Road and Shrimpers Row was completed sometime ago, Levron said.

“Water washed across the aggregate on the shoulders,” he said. “It gets washed away.”

The $1 million FEMA is reimbursing the sheriff’s office is for Hurricane Gustav.

Vehicle transmissions were damaged by high water, said Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois. The sheriff’s office had fuel costs and paid overtime and lodging expenses, he said.

“FEMA doesn’t just hand out the money,” Bourgeois said. “They have to see the bills. Where overtime starts and ends had to be documented.”