ABBEVILLE, LA - Abbeville High School Resource Officer Jerath Bessard starts each morning at 6:50 a.m., walking the halls of the school he once attended, now serving as the eyes and ears of campus security.
Bessard, a former narcotics officer, is a familiar and trusted presence in the building. His daily routine is now supported by a new layer of security technology aimed at protecting students and staff.
“This is the camera system right here,” Bessard said, pointing to the school’s surveillance monitors. “This is the hallway on the other side of that secure entrance.”
On Friday, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the school board, announced it now has remote access to more than 20 school surveillance cameras across the district; a move officials say will enhance response times and increase situational awareness during emergencies.
“This is one thing you hope you prepare for but you never have to use,” said Superintendent Tommy Byler.
Previously, in the event of a lockdown, school officials would monitor camera footage themselves. Now, the Sheriff’s Office can access the live feeds directly from its Real-Time Crime Center.
“In the past, if something happened, I was looking at cameras, one of my IT people was looking at cameras,” Byler said. “We want the resource officer handling the lockdown situation. Now the sheriff and his office can view the footage in real time.”
The Sheriff’s Office also introduced the Raptor app, a crisis alert system designed to send real-time notifications to law enforcement and school officials during emergencies.
“It makes our response time quicker,” said Vermilion Parish Sheriff Eddie Langlinais. “We don’t monitor the cameras all the time, but when there’s an alert that something happened, we can get to it a lot quicker.”
For Bessard, the changes are personal.
“I graduated from here. I had five daughters graduate from here,” he said. “I take that really serious.”
As he continues to walk the halls he once walked as a student, Bessard is reminded of why he came back.
“It’s very important to make sure these kids are safe,” he said. “They came here to learn. They didn’t come here for anything else. It’s our responsibility to make sure they get home.”
