Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office (Louisiana)

The Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office' is the principal law enforcement agency in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. The only other police department in the parish is in Jeanerette.[1] The sheriff provides police services to New Iberia under a contract. The vast majority of the Sheriff's Office activity is in New Iberia.[2]

The department has about 220 sworn officers. The sheriff is elected. Louis M. Ackal has been sheriff since 2007.[3]

Organization

The office has a number of divisions:[4]

  • Uniformed Patrol Division
  • Traffic Division
  • K9 Division
  • Records Division
  • Marine Division
  • Communications
  • Warrants
  • School Resources Officers
  • Part-time & Reserve Unit
  • Jail Operations[5]
  • Bureau of Investigations Division[6]
  • Training Division[7]
  • Special Operations[8]
    • Haz-Mat
    • Honor Guard
    • Fleet Management
    • Construction
  • Tactical Tracking Team[9]
  • Office of General Counsel[10]

Parish jail

The jail had a capacity of 520 inmates and is staffed by about 65 workers. The facility includes a farm.[11]

The Sheriff's Office has been sued repeatedly over allegations of abuse at the jail. In 2011, Deputy Byron Lassalle placed his baton between his legs and forced a prisoner to “suck on the baton as I thrust it into his — into his throat.”[12] In early 2015 a video surfaced of an inmate flat on the ground being attacked by a police dog as a deputy stood by.[13] In 2016, after being found not guilty of any misconduct himself, Sheriff Ackal said that members of the jail staff had beaten prisoners and planted drugs on them.[14]

Scandal

Press reports indicate that in 2016 "almost a dozen" deputies plead guilty to beating people up and faking evidence. As a result, eighteen cases were dropped by local officials.[15]

In 2016, Sheriff Ackal was denied coverage by the statewide sheriffs' insurance pool due to the number of claims against him.[16]

References
  1. "Firing Range". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  2. Simerman, John (25 November 2018). "Lack of trust in New Iberia: grappling with a community that's lost faith in law enforcement". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  3. Simerman, John (25 November 2018). "Lack of trust in New Iberia: grappling with a community that's lost faith in law enforcement". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  4. "Patrol". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. "Jail Operations". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  6. "Bureau of Investigations Division". Iberia Parrish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. "Training Division". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. "Special Operations". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. "Tactical Tracking". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  10. "Legal Division". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  11. "Jail Operations". Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  12. Simerman, John (25 November 2018). "Lack of trust in New Iberia: grappling with a community that's lost faith in law enforcement". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  13. Simerman, John (25 November 2018). "Lack of trust in New Iberia: grappling with a community that's lost faith in law enforcement". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  14. Stole, Bryn; Mustian, Jim (4 November 2016). "Ruled not guilty, Iberia Sheriff Louis Ackal says 'I'm not a crook,' vows to clean out 'rogues'". Arcadia Advocate. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  15. Simerman, John (10 December 2018). "The cost of bad policing: Review of Iberia Parish cases leads to 18 tossed convictions". Arcadia Advocate. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  16. Simerman, John (25 November 2018). "Lack of trust in New Iberia: grappling with a community that's lost faith in law enforcement". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

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