Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office

Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office
Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office
Common name	Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	LPSO
Motto	"Serving the community with courtesy, professionalism, and respect."
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
	Map of Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction
Size	270 square miles (700 km2)
Population	190,503 (As of 2000); 211,000 (Est. 2008)
Legal jurisdiction	Parish (County)
General nature	Local civilian police;
Operational structure
Headquarters	Lafayette, Louisiana
Deputy Sheriffs	500
Unsworn employees	250
Agency executive	Mark T. Garber, Sheriff;
Divisions	show 7
Facilities
Stations	4
Jails	1
Patrol Cars	Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, Chevrolet Impala
Patrol Motorcycles	Harley Davidson
Website
	http://www.lafayettesheriff.com/

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office (LPSO) is the sheriff's department in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. The department, headed by Sheriff Mark T. Garber, consists of around 750 sworn and non-sworn employees. Although the LPSO's jurisdiction consists of the entire parish of Lafayette, in order to not duplicate services provided by local city police, the primary patrol area is the unincorporated areas of the parish. The LPSO is CALEA (Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies) accredited.

Divisions[]

The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office operates seven divisions: Corrections, Enforcement, Finance/Technology/Tax, Human Resources, Training/Professional Development, and Internal Affairs.

Corrections[]

Enforcement[]

The most visible division of the LPSO. This division utilizes marked Chevrolet Tahoes, Ford Crown Victorias, & Ford Explorer police interceptors, Harley Davidson motorcycles, and various unmarked police vehicles.

Uniformed Patrol - Responsible for answering calls for service, both emergency and non-emergency.
Communications Section - Provides 24-hour dispatch services for the LPSO and all municipalities in Lafayette Parish with the exception of the City of Lafayette. The link between the public and law enforcement, Dispatchers are linked to 911, and utilize Computer Aided Dispatch.
K-9 Section - Provides trained and dual certified dogs for patrol use. These dogs are used for building searches and apprehension of high risk suspects, and are also trained in narcotics detection. An explosive detection dog also serves Lafayette Parish and several other parishes in South Louisiana.
Traffic Escort Section - Provides traffic escort for every funeral service in Lafayette Parish, as well as other escort requests (local high schools, the University of Louisiana, etc.) They also oversee the school crossing guard program.
Contract Security - Provides 24-hour security to the University Medical Center Hospital and Lafayette Regional Airport.
Field Training Officer Section - F.T.O.s provide on the job training for new deputies.
Civil Enforcement

Finance/Technology/Tax[]

Finance - Responsible for accounting, budgeting, payroll, benefits administration, purchasing and accounts payable.
Technology - The IT department plans the technology incentives for the Sheriff's Office, as well as managing the day-to-day operations of the Sheriff's network and other systems.
Tax - Responsible for collecting parish property taxes.
Civil Administration - Manage the finances of the civil department; sales and seizures and garnishments.

Human Resources[]

Responsible for hiring the most professional and qualified people to work for the Sheriff's Office.

Training/Professional[]

Responsible for training new recruits as well as advanced training for current deputies. This division operates the LPSO Reserve Academy and the LPSO Corrections Academy. It also operates a community training programs, offering programs to local citizens such as self-defense, firearms training, and hunter education.

ALETA - In 2003, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office joined together with the University of Louisiana to create ALETA, the Acadiana Law Enforcement Training Academy. This academy trains new LPSO deputies and UL Police officers, as well as recruits from several other police agencies in South Louisiana, to become P.O.S.T. certified law enforcement officers. The program is an eleven-week course that provides physical training and conditioning along with classroom instruction.

Internal Affairs[]

IA is charged with preserving integrity, honesty, and professionalism in the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office. It serves to protect the interests of the complainant, the accused employee, the Sheriff's Office, and the community.

Map of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana With Municipal Labels

Collaborations[]

Operation FALCON - Operation FALCON (Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally) is a multi agency operation to apprehend fugitives in the Acadiana area.
Metro Narcotics - A collaboration between the LPSO and the Lafayette City Police to remove and keep illegal drugs off the streets of the City and Parish of Lafayette. Investigators from both agencies, along with personnel from the Louisiana National Guard's Counter Drug Program investigate drug related complaints made by citizens.
Metro Forensics - A collaboration between the LPSO and LPD to provide state of the art crime scene investigation to all of Acadiana. Metro Forensics operates one of the most technologically advanced^{[citation needed]} crime labs in the state of Louisiana.

References[]

External links[]

The LPSO's official website