- The Jeanerette Marshal's Office has been assisting the police department since February, due to a shortage of officers.
- According to Chief of Police Dusty Vallot, the department is "close to being fully staffed," bringing this months-long contract to an end.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Jeanerette’s police department seems to be blooming as the town’s policing agreement of several months, comes to an end. During a public meeting on Monday, June 10 Chief of Police Dusty Vallot said the department is "close to being fully staffed" and no longer needs the Jeanerette Marshal’s Office to assist with lending officers.
“I wanna thank the marshal," Vallot said. "He stepped up tremendously when we were very, very short. Him and his guys helped us out majorly, and I believe together, in the last three months, we may have responded to 300, maybe 400 some calls.”
Back in February, Jeanerette's police department had roughly 2-3 officers on hand, leaving them in a "desperate state.” “I think we’re all suffering, and trying to make every attempt to try and recruit qualified people,” said Assistant Police Chief David Robertson, back in February.
By entering into a cooperative endeavor agreement the Jeanerette Marshal’s Office was able to lend 4-5 additional officers to the understaffed police department; a change that residents say they noticed and appreciated. “By the marshal stepping in with they presence," a local business owner said, "everything has been solid.”
“To come back and do some real police work and be effective…look, I’m happy to do just that.” According to Jeanerette Marshal Fernest 'Pac Man' Martin, the partnership has allowed both law enforcement agencies to more effectively curb crime.
“The first night we came on, or the first week, we didn’t have no shots fired; And we were effective the first week, I think we wrote twenty-something tickets inside the city limits, which we don’t normally do." The marshal also referenced two separate shooting incidents that the police-marshal duo was able to resolve within days. "We had two shooters, and we were able to solve those jokers within no time; like one we solved within 12 hours, the other we solved within two days.”
The police department currently has 6 officers on-hand, including Chief Vallot. Marshal Martin tells KATC that "they'll always be here" if staffing issues ever arise down the road. For more information about joining local law enforcement, click here.
