By MOLLY DRYMAN

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE — Repeat drug offenders are being taken off the streets and doing time, thanks to a new system developed by the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office.

Sheriff Wayne L. Jones said this system has been in the works for about a year now, and the community is benefiting highly from it.

&#8220Repeat offenders have always been a concern,” Jones said. &#8220To tend to that concern, I wanted to make sure there was a clear line of communication between the Sheriff’s Office and the DA’s Office, so that if we are doing something wrong on our end, like not showing up for court or not getting reports in on time, it could be handled immediately.”

Jones said he has three investigative officers that are assigned to the DA’s Office to make sure the repeat offenders are not slipping thorough the cracks.

&#8220We had cases where the same person had been arrested two or three times for the same drug crime,” he said. &#8220When this happens, we are not accomplishing what we need to accomplish, because we want to get these guys off the streets and this was not getting them off the streets.”

According to Jones, some deputies were getting frustrated with arresting the same people over and over again, but now with the open line of communication, things are moving right along.

&#8220Without question, I can see the benefit of our Repeat Offender Monitoring Program,” he said. &#8220There will always be some delays though, it’s evitable. Especially, when dealing with court-appointed attorneys for the offenders, because of the continuances, but I cannot complain about the progress we’ve made in the past year. I am satisfied with the cooperation between the agencies.”

Since the new system was developed in 2005, 11 repeat drug offenders have been convicted and sentenced for a total of 114 years, and &#8220no longer walking the streets of the parish,” Jones said.

Another program is the Adult Drug Court Program, which is used for repeat offenders that have smaller cases and are given a chance complete the program with close monitoring and random drug testing. Once the program is completed, they do not have to do any jail time, but if they do not complete the program &#8220they have to serve the consequences,” Jones said.

&#8220One of the most important things is to make sure we are continuing to be consistent,” he said. &#8220And considering we have 23 repeat offenders with trial dates set between February and May proves that there is more focus on repeat offenders, and I can see that they are paying attention to what they are doing.”

Community Supervisor Albert Burl III provided a list of clients of Adult Drug Court who are considered fugitives for not adhering to the conditions set by the judge.

On the current list are Trey Creecy, 25; Derrick Dennis, 22; David Fisher, 32; Kenny Gray, 45; Chad Grows, 25; Jevon Johnson, 21; Lyndon Johnson, 32; Wanda McDaniel, 43; and Terrance Randle, 20.

Jones said the Sheriff’s Office will be releasing their 2005 crime stats soon and it will show improvement for St. John Parish.

&#8220The crime stats will show a direct correlation in the reduction of crime,” he said. &#8220Especially from getting these same groups of individuals off the streets and keeping them off the streets. Overall crime is down. Assumptions were made after the influx of people living in the parish after Hurricane Katrina with high crime rates, but that is just not the case.”

Jones said most of the service calls since the storm have been relative to numerous auto accidents from congestion. Even though the number of accidents has subsided a bit, he urged people to take their time while traveling.