TPSO has seized $5.1 million in narcotics in six months, sheriff says during update

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet gave an update at the August Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce General Membership Luncheon about the improvements the department has seen in the past year.

The Sheriff began by announcing that TPSO seized $5.1 million in narcotics in six months. He gave homage to his department along with Houma Police Department, where he said they work tirelessly together to make Houma safer. “I’m humbled to have the opportunity to share this…I’ve been blessed with good people, and I surround myself with good people to get the job done,” he said.

He said the department has seen many challenges in the past year. He mentioned the Transitional Work Program, which offers soon-to-be-released inmates the opportunity to get a job and earn money to assist in the transition to life after prison. He said the program did not previously exist before he took office, and they started the program with close to 90 inmates in the program. Now, because of budgeting, they currently have 70 inmates in the program, which he hopes to get more funding allocated because more inmates need to get involved to lead them to a brighter future. “We have to think out of the box, I’m not going to ask for another tax, I’m just not going to do it,” he said, “I’m trying to think of creative ways to get the revenue coming in to provide these types of services.”

Another creative way to help with budgeting is the department has a body shop where they work on units themselves to help cut costs. He said everyone who has a business understands that there have to be innovative ways to cut costs in order to keep everyone working, and this was a way to do that. He shared that innovative ways to help with budgeting have helped him hire over 50 people at the department bringing the number of current employees to 301. He also shared that in his next budget, there will be room for 50 additional officers, which will be patrolling on the street level. He expressed that public safety remains his top priority.

He also announced the DARE program, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, has been reinstated into Terrebonne Parish schools. The program had previously been operating in classrooms for 25 years before being discontinued in 2016.

He said COVID has added many challenges to the department and he continues to prioritize the well-being of the department employees. He is trying to keep them healthy to be able to patrol and be safer for the community. He shared he went to Wolfe’s Pharmacy to get vitamins, for example, to give to the TPSO employees. “I’m investing in our police officers, “he said,” that’s taking care of people in our parish, and I think that’s important.”

He boasted about having a great team that specifically deals with certain issues. He formed several task forces to address different types of issues such as gang activity, drug enforcement, juvenile crimes, special victims, domestic violence, and property crimes. By departmentalizing the department, he said they have become much more efficient. So far this year, he said they solved 75 percent of homicides. The Sheriff also updated they have an office building, located on Savanne Road, that is specifically for SWAT Team, K9, and Narcotics, because he said these have been very fluent in operations that the community deals with every day.

The department has invested in body cameras and “Weapon Systems” that are attached to gun holsters. When the gun is pulled, the camera automatically turns on to record the surroundings. The system also works with geofencing, which means all surrounding officers’ cameras also turn on. He said this is important because it helps tremendously in stressful situations. The cameras also turn on when a taser is activated. He recalled that because of these cameras, more than one complaint has been solved, and the cameras have been highly effective when it comes to quality.

He touted being transparent and said his door is always open and the coffee pot is always on. He shared that the department has seen a couple of officers having to be arrested, “but I hold them accountable, and I hold them to a higher standard because the bottom line is we represent Terrebonne Parish.” He emotionally said he thinks they’re very fortunate because they have a lot of positive support in the community, and for that, he is forever blessed and thanks to God for that every day. 

“I’m so blessed with the department I have,” he said, “I could not be more blessed or honored to serve those guys. While I’m serving them, I’m serving you, because that’s what’s important. That’s what y’all elected me for, and I’m going to continue doing that. I’m not going to stop, I’m just getting warmed up…I welcome anybody who has questions, comments, or concerns, but I will not apologize, ever, for my police officers for doing their jobs, because that’s what I expect of them, to do their job.”

About the Sheriff

Sheriff Soignet was born in Houma and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after high school. He completed Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. Throughout his career, he has served in many roles and achieved many promotions from Squad Leader to Sergeant, and then to Chief Warrant Officer. In March of 2006, he retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and returned to Houma, where he embarked on a full-time position with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. In 2008, he was permanently assigned to the training academy as an Academy Staff Instructor, Firearms Instructor, and SWAT Operator Sniper. During that time, he wrote a Patrol Rifle Curriculum adopted by the Louisiana Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) which is now the standard being used by all Law Enforcement Agencies in the state. Since 2008, he served as the Lead P.O.S.T. Firearms Instructor in the Patrol Rifle platform as the subject matter expert in the state. He served on the Louisiana P.O.S.T. Firearms Retainer Committee. 

In 2012, he was assigned as the Director of the Terrebonne Parish Regional Law Enforcement Academy, Commander of the SWAT Team, and Commander of the Honor Guard. In April of 2013, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. He wrote Use of Force Policies, K-9 Policies, and Special Operations policies in civil disturbances. He wrote and implemented the Critical Incident Training (Active Shooter) Program for Law Enforcement, churches, businesses, school teachers, and school administration in Terrebonne Parish. In December of 2018, he was promoted to the rank of Major and assigned as Uniform Patrol Commander. Soignet began his role as the Sheriff of Terrebonne Parish on July 1, 2020.

Photo by Tyler Duplantis