It was unfortunate in the same news cycle that celebrated the best of the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office, there was also a story about the termination and arrest of a St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Thus was the case on the front page of Saturday’s L’OBSERVATEUR, where Detective Vernon Bailey Jr. was championed as the Officer of the Year, while Keith Carroll was booked for malfeasance in office.

That doesn’t take away from a wonderful night and a truly deserving awards ceremony.

Deputy Lisa Dorris, Deputy Steven Dailey and Sgt. Jason Raborn were recognized with Life Saving Awards, while Dailey and Deputy Shannon Petty were also lauded as finalists for the Officer of the Year honor.

Other officers recognized Thursday with awards sponsored by the Small Business Association included Deputy Jonathan Walker, Patrol Division/200 Shift; Deputy Claudette Edwards, Corrections; Sgt. Denise Bertrand, Sex Offender Registration Community Relations; Deputy Lisa Dorris, Patrol Division/200 Shift;  Deputy Grant Pierre, Patrol Division/100 Shift; Deputy Brittany Layne, Communications; Deputy Roy Vicknair, Traffic Division; Deputy Turner Barran, Patrol Division/300 Shift and Deputy Stephen Perkins, Patrol Division/200 Shift.

These officers deserve as many accolades as they can receive. We truly appreciate their service.

Unfortunately, not all in the media agree. While seemingly every television station and metro newspaper, along with L’OBSERVATEUR, attended a press conference last week announcing a large-scale drug bust in LaPlace, none but this community newspaper showed up two days later for the Officer of the Year Award Ceremony.

Negative news of a public concern deserves our attention, but we applaud the Sheriff’s Office and its many fine officers for giving us something positive to report last week, as well.