By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Many of the tools used by the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office to keep law-abiding citizens safe were on display Saturday morning as part of the Sheriff’s Office Expo at the LaPlace Home Depot parking lot.

Capt. Dane Clement, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office, said the expo is held every two years as a way to show residents how their tax dollars are being spent.

“We certainly don’t get the opportunity to use some of these tools on a daily basis, but we want residents to understand that they are at our disposal should the need arise,” Clement said.

Residents were given the chance to explore various vehicles used by the Sheriff’s Office including search and rescue boats, Special Operations Response Team vehicles, four wheelers, motorcycles and other small-scale vehicles. Representatives were also on hand to perform child safety fingerprinting. The afternoon was capped off with a crowd-pleasing demonstration from the Sheriff’s Office K9 unit.