Rap Sheet Public Edition june 2011 (Recovered)

Sheriff Hosts Summer
Camp and Teen Cert
By Lt. Lafate Day
Programs
Fifty-six young people ages 11 to 13 attended the Sheriff
Webre’s Summer Camp in Bunkie, LA June 13th through the
17th. The camp is fun, fun, fun with games, swimming and
even a Camp Fear Factor competition! The camp encourages interaction between counselors and campers and
there’s no interruption from cell phones or video
games. Electronic devices are strictly taboo and
fun is achieved the old-fashioned way.
The camp is always held at Louisiana Youth
Educational & Recreational Center located at 5197
Highway 115 Bunkie, Louisiana. The campers and
staff sleep in cabins that are air conditioned. Each
cabin has four separate bedrooms each with two,
twin bunk bed sets. The Center has a swimming
pool, small pond, walking track, dining area, softball fields, volleyball courts, covered basketball
goal and other activities.
This one-week camping experience is an opportunity for participants to blend outdoor activities
with career decisions, developing values, ethics,
and leadership skills. The Camp Staff consists of
School Resource Officers, DARE Officers, Explorers, and deputies. The camp is under the supervision of Lt. Lafate Day and the Youth Services
Section. Their participation and counseling help
to promote trust and positive interaction between
these young people and the Sheriff’s Office.
It’s always easy for our campers to respond to
that age-old question “What did you do over the
summer?” with, “I had a blast at Sheriff Webre’s
Summer Camp!”
After camp came to a close, the following
Monday, 38 members of Explorer Post #323 descended upon the Bunkie facility for Teen CERT
(Community Emergency Response Team). The
LPSO contingent was joined by a host of other
agencies including the Madisonville Explorer Post,
Medical Explorer Post 511 from New Orleans,
Terrytown Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts from Baton
Rouge, Houma Young Marines, Winn Parish and
the Jefferson Davis Sheriff’s Offices.
Teen CERT is a National Training Initiative that
prepares youth to “mitigate, prepare, respond and
recover” from a disaster that may happen at their
school or home.
July 2011
Inside this issue:
Explorer News
2
Gazette Safety Circus
3
Life in the Fast Lane
3
Police Unity Tour
4
PACT Place Visit from
Easter Bunny
5
First Responders on
Display
5
The Rap Sheet brought
to you by:
Sgt. Lesley Hill, PIO
Content and Layout
Rachelle Bilbo
Design and Layout
Submit your ideas
and exciting news for the
next Rap Sheet to
Lesley Hill :
lesley-hill@lpso.net.
Page 2
The Rap Sheet, July 2011
Summer Camp and
Teen Cert continued
The program is designed to teach them to help themselves, their families and their school in the event of a
disaster. The program covers the areas of fire safety and
basic fire combating techniques; recognizing injuries and
basic first aid, CPR, basic team building and emergency
communications systems.
Courses taught this year included:
-CPR/Splinting/Choking/Infant CPR by Acadian Ambulance
-Fire Safety by the Shreveport Fire Department and a
representative of the Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office. This training included the use of simulators and the
Spirit of Louisiana Fire Truck.
-Team Building by Linda Savoie
-Search and Rescue by Retired Houma Police Department Captain Greg Hood and Lt. Lafate Day Included light
urban searches and open field searches and a mock scenario of a missing person and DWI Safety
-18-Wheeler Safety by Wal-Mart
-Emergency Preparedness by Chelsea Brown of Louisiana State Citizen Corps
-Terrorism by Retired Captain Greg Hood
-How to Escape from a Submerged Vehicle by Linda Savoie
-When Help is Delayed First Aid by Explorer Post 511
-MOCK Disaster Drill – How to Respond when a Tornado
Hits
The initiative is important considering in 95-percent of
the time, a bystander or victim is the first person on scene
to provide emergency assistance or rescue. Having young
adults trained can only save lives in the event of an emergency.
Teen CERT is designed to change the culture of disaster preparedness and response by empowering youth in
disaster mitigation.
On Friday afternoon as most groups were leaving,
LPSO Explorers along with the Madisonville group and
Terrytown Boy Scouts went to the Avoyelles Correctional
Facility, a 1,500 bed state run prison. There they toured
the facility, housing and participated in a Juvenile Awareness Program where inmates presented skits and testimonials. The session ended with an open question and answer session with the youth.
On Saturday, the State Citizen Corps conducted its
annual CERT Rodeo. LPSO participated in this adult oriented emergency response competition. Two Reservists
and twenty-eight Explorers participated in this event.
Teams competed in cribbing (lifting heavy objects off
trapped persons), fire suppression, plank walk, and urban
search and rescue. LPSO Explorers were represented on
every team and were even nominated by some teams as
the team leaders.
Explorers will get a brief rest and be back hard at work
in July assisting with RAD Kids July 11-15 in Thibodaux,
conducting their Explorer Academy July 18-22 and assisting with RAD Kids July 25-29 in Raceland. They will finish
up their summer on August 2nd when they assist in activities planned for this year’s Night Out Against Crime at
parties throughout the parish.
###
Other Explorer news…
On Saturday, May 28, 2011, The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s
Office Explorer POST 323 conducted a Child ID at the Family
Dollar Store in Raceland, LA. The Child ID program includes
fingerprinting, DNA swabbing, and Iris Scanning. This is a free
service the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office offers to the public. The LPSO is happy to perform this service at requesting
businesses or other events that are conducting public outreach. Pictured in the attached photograph are:
Standing: Lt. Jacques Lirette, Simon Adams, Ranada Sanchez, Cady Hensley, Aimie Boquet, Sgt. Chris Breaux
Kneeling: Advisor Jennifer Day, Mamie Bernucho
On April 1st, Post #323
members took part in
the Youth Relay for Life
in Cut Off. Congratulations to Dillon Charles
for 1st Place in the
“Dude Looks like a Lady
Contest”. (Dillon is the
cutie on the left pictured
with Tyler Dupre and CJ
Griffin) . Also a huge pat
on the back to the entire
team who raised $1,440
for Relay for Life that
night! Awesome job
Mrs. Nicole!
Anyone interested
in joining Explorer
POST 323 or their Child ID program should contact Lt. Lafate Elliott Day, Jr., 985-532-4327,
email: Lafate-Day@LPSO.net
The Rap Sheet, July 2011
Page 3
Gazette Safety Circus
Photos by Todd Prevost
On May 7th, members of the LPSO Bicycle Patrol Unit attended
Lady of the Sea’s Safety Circus at the Cut Off Youth Center. The
event featured many displays teaching children how to stay safe
in different situations. More than 150 children attended and Bike
Patrol Deputies were happy to share tips on biking safety. Sgt.
Todd Prevost shares the following pictures from the event.
Life in the Fast Lane
It might have
been a TV show, but we had fun racing anyway.
In May, the Speed Channel sent a crew
This May the Speed Channel came back to NPR
down to interview our very own Ronnie
to film 10 shows of “Pass Time”. They took a look at
Thibodaux who is instrumental in keeping
two hundred cars for this event and picked one hunthe LPSO fleet of vehicles working right.
dred cars to do ten shows. I was picked in the first
Ronnie is also very much involved in the
twenty cars so I was excited that I was going to show
racing world and his interview will appear
my hot rod on TV. My car is a 1967 Camaro SS with
on a program called “Pass Time”
a 492 big block Chevy that I
in July or August. Check your
built with a good friend. We
local listings for the Speed Chanhad lots of fun drag racing,
nel. Ronnie Thibodaux explains
and now things were about to
on
en
se
why the crew came down here
be
Pass Time can
get even better: I was going
and what it’s like to live “life in the
M
P
30
at 7:
ts
h
ig
n
to be on TV talking a little
ay
d
es
fast lane”.
Tu
nel
an
h
French and I would be wearC
d
By Ronnie Thibodaux
ee
p
S
e
on th
ing my racing tux that I got
Just recently I had the exmarried in. It was made esperience of being on the show
pecially for me. The “Pass
“Pass Time” that was filmed at
Time” host said us Cajuns
No Problem Raceway (NPR) in
have some style when he
Belle Rose, La. Out of 200
saw me in my tux with my top
racers, I was picked in the first
hat on. I was a little nervous
20 cars to show off my stuff.
with the cameras in my car
I’ve had my car for 28 years. In
because I wanted to do so
the beginning, the reason I
well! I made a nice pass at
started fixing it up to street race
9.95 seconds ET (elapsed
was simple: I wanted a fast car
time) travelling 135 MPH in a
to impress the girls and have
quarter mile. Not too bad!
some fun with a fast hot rod.
The fastest my car has ever
All that all ended on public
gone is 8.60 ET at 155MPH, with my big motor and nitrous
roads after the law caught up to me! That’s when I started
oxide system.
going to race at drag racing tracks in Louisiana, Mississippi,
This was an experience that I might never get to do again,
Texas, Tennessee and Florida.
but we had fun and drag racing is a hobby that I love doing.
About ten years ago NPR opened up and that was only
I’m building my wife a Chevrolet S10 so she can start racing
forty miles from my house! It was so nice to have a race track
this year. We’ll have to come up with a name for her once she
close to us, so I started drag racing every chance I got. A coudoes. After all, everybody that knows me knows that I’m the
ple of years ago “Pinks Allout” came to NPR. That was a
FASTEST FATMAN.
Speed Channel show too that I had a chance to experience.
The Rap Sheet, July 2011
Page 4
Police Unity Tour
By Sgt. Lesley Hill
There are moments in our lives that the minute they happen, we know they will stay
with us the rest of our lives. May 10th, 11th and 12th are dates that will stay with me forever. On the 10th, Lt. John Champagne and I left Norfolk, Virginia on a 250+ mile trip to
Washington, DC by bicycle to remember officers killed in the line of duty leading up to
National Police Week. We joined more than 150 other riders who ride with Police Unity
Tour’s Chapter 8 out of Florida. Our contingent is just one of many who eventually
merge at RFK Stadium for the short ride to the National Police Memorial. By that time,
you ride in 2 by 2 and your ranks stretch for blocks. 1,200 plus cops on bikes are quite
a sight. Most of the people standing on street corners this Thursday cheered. Some
grumbled because they couldn’t cross the street when they wanted to. But their delay
was momentary compared to the lasting impact felt by thousands of families across this
country. Those families have watched as their loved ones served their communities
and were willing to lay down their lives in the line of duty. Lt. Champagne knows the
pain first hand. This is the second year he has ridden in the Unity Tour in honor of his
brother Chaney Champagne who died with his partner Kurt “Woody” Harrelson in July
of 2003. The two were on their way to help an elderly woman who had reportedly
driven into the bayou. They never made it.
I honored friend and co-worker Martha Woods-Shareef – killed in August of
2008. Lafourche has lost a total of four officers. Deputy Thomas Procter was shot and
killed in 1978 leaving behind two daughters and a son. Along with remembering friends
and family, every officer also wore a bracelet in memory of an officer killed in the line of
duty in 2010. Lt. Champagne rode for Corporal Clovis Searcy, Jr. of Ouachita Parish. Searcy was shot and killed responding to an assault call. He left a wife and two
children after a career of 8 years on the job. I rode for New Orleans Officer Alfred Celestain, Sr. He was killed after a drunk plowed into his patrol car as Celestain and his
partner were responding to a call. He left parents and three children behind following
21 years of service to his community.
Lt. Champagne was amazing and a real trooper – he rode every single mile of the
grueling trip up and down monster hills of Virginia. Last year was his first trip and he
was frustrated as flat tire, after flat tire sidelined him for sections of the ride. Not so this
time as he not only pedaled the entire journey problem-free, he stayed at the front of
the pack. I gave it my all and was proud to complete about half – and for my first year,
they kept telling me that’s not bad. Time not on the bike, was time spent supporting the
others who pushed themselves and their bodies sometimes beyond the point of sanity. Support at that point is cold water or a sports drink – maybe a banana for the
muscle that won’t let go or an apple with peanut butter.
For more than 200 miles – riders pedaled silently through community after community – past people who stepped outside of businesses just long enough to applaud and whistle – or past schools, where children enthusiastically jumped up and
down, waving American flags – these are the moments that will fill my memory forever. This particular challenge is like none I’ve ever experienced. As a novice cyclist
– I learned there really is nothing in our area to prepare you for what they call “hills”
up north, so you better just cycle like crazy every chance you get.
The most important lesson of all came Friday night at the Candlelight Vigil
held at the National Police Memorial. Riders from our Chapter escort surviving
family members to their seats before the ceremony. This was also the time when
most of us finally were able to make contact with the family member of the officer
we honored during the ride. It is exactly during these precious hours that all of
the hard work spent training and the three hard days of the ride are put into perspective. It was all done to honor the dads and moms who won’t see their children grow up. It was done to honor those wives, husbands, sons, daughters,
mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who are now forced to try to learn how to
live without their loved one by their side.
To Sheriff Webre and the LPSO family and all of those in the community, from
individuals, to businesses, to the young people in the Lafourche Parish School
System who helped us get here $1 at a time – Team Blue Lafourche says
Lt. John Champagne rode for his
“thank you”. The experience would not have happened without you. You
can also feel proud that Lafourche Parish was very much a part of the $1.5
brother Chaney Champagne and Sgt.
million dollar check that the Police Unity Tour gave to the National Police
Lesley Hill rode for her friend Martha
Memorial this year. That money will help forever ensure that our heroes
Woods-Shareef in the National Police
are not forgotten.
Unity Tour in Washington, D.C. this
past May.
The Rap Sheet, July 2011
Page 5
Easter Bunny Makes
Unexpected Surprise Stop
at PACT Place
By Pam Guedry, PACT Place Coordinator
I want to share with you a recent act of kindness shown by the
men and women who work in the LPSO Communications section.
Those workers made sure that every child who is provided services
at PACT (Parents and Children Together) Place, received an Easter
basket filled with goodies. PACT Place is a supervised visitation
center run by the Sheriff’s Office. Here children are taken out of the
middle of warring parents who never have to see each other during
custody exchanges or visitation sessions.
The baskets were beautiful and the kids were even more excited
to see them. You could see it on their faces as they were doled out
one by one. One child just looked at the basket with a great big
smile and finally said “Is all that for me??” Another child couldn’t wait to get home to see what was in his basket, and he sat there in
the waiting area and pulled each item out one by one, smiling each time.
Children and parents were both amazed at the generosity shown by people they had never met. The fact that they took the time to
help these wonderful kids made them feel so special!! One mother, a victim of domestic violence who recently left her abuser, picked
up her child’s basket from the PACT Place and chose to put it out Easter morning for her child to wake up to. On Easter morning, the
child told Mom – “I must have been even better than at Christmas – because the Easter Bunny left me a lot of stuff!!” Mom couldn’t
wait to call and tell me this as well as send another special thank you out to those who graciously put these baskets together.
The mission of PACT Place is to put the kids first – to try to provide a place where they can truly be children for a while in a safe
and fun place. The actions by our Communications workers drove that point home again. For that, I want to let you know that your
act of kindness truly made a difference!
First Responders on Display
By Sgt. Lesley Hill
On Saturday, April 16th, members of various sections of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office joined other first responders from
around the area and national partners including the Department of Homeland Security in the first-ever Bayou Region Public Safety
Expo. The public was treated to displays detailing the operations of our Crisis Management On Saturday, April 16th, members of
various sections of the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office joined other first responders from around the area and national partners
including the Department of Homeland Security in the first-ever Bayou Region Public Safety Expo.
Continued...
The Rap Sheet, July 2011
First Responders on Display continued
The public was treated to
displays detailing the operations of our Crisis Management Unit, Water Patrol
Section, Dive Team, Bicycle
Patrol Unit and Explorers.
The kids were delighted
to meet and take pictures
with McGruff in front of a
vintage car on loan from a
Lafourche citizen who also
takes pride in everything
the LPSO has to offer!
Our Explorers got down
to business conducting iris
scans, fingerprinting and
taking oral swabs of children for their parents.
The most important thing
happening at the tent
though was the making of
some pretty special law enforcement blue cotton
candy! Home made kettle
corn was handed out to
anyone who wanted some.
The LPSO Mobile Command Vehicle was also on
display. The public was
invited to not only inspect
the vehicle on the outside,
but on the inside as well.
One young man marveled
as he maneuvered the vehicle’s exterior camera high
above the crowd and pinpointed his Mom.
The Sheriff makes the
vehicle available at many
public events throughout
the year so that the public
can see this new tool that
will help us do a better job
whether it is at the scene of
a crime, a hostage situation
or at a weather event.
While we had fun sharing
various parts of LPSO with
others, it was also fun for us
to walk around and see
what others had to offer as
well. Here’s hoping we see
you next year at the 2nd Annual Bayou Region Public
Safety Expo.
Page 6