This is my last article written as a freshman Sheriff.

On July 1, 2016, I will become, as the Louisiana Sheriffs Association calls it, a veteran Sheriff. I find it fitting as my first term goes into the history books to share a review of physical upgrades, programs that were implemented and goals that were accomplished.

In addition, I want to share my goals for the next four years.

When I became Sheriff, I found it necessary for every patrolman to have a bulletproof vest, be drug free and CPR certified.

Thanks to citizens and business donations, every officer has a vest, even the K9’s. Every officer, including me, was drug tested when I took office four years ago and every officer is being drug tested this week.

Policies for random drug testing are in place. Our entire department, including the civil department, has been CPR certified.  SJSO has saved multiple lives in the past four years, two were saved in one day, due to this training.

Recertification continues every two years.

I also saw the need to upgrade the buildings and vehicles.

The Patrol Headquarters needed a new roof badly. It would flood inside to the point where officers had buckets to catch the leaks in their offices.

We also built a multipurpose room inside patrol headquarters used for training, meetings and at times roll call. It was named in honor of a true public servant Lanard Robinet.

At the start of my first term, I was in no rush to immediately change all of the fleet to the new design. The older police units served us well with most over 100,000 miles. Now, new units will be on the streets of St. John and should last us for years to come.

The communications equipment for SJSO and the parish has been upgraded due to lessons learned from Hurricane Isaac.

We implemented the POPS programs (Protecting Our Precious Seniors), RAD program, Bike patrol, mobile APP, departmental emails for EVERY officer, and Officer of the Year program. We now have a designated grant writer, who assisted us in obtaining a mobile command unit and an armored vehicle.

For my second term, new projects are well underway. SJSO narcotics will be getting a new building. The Westbank Substation floor plan and land acquisition is underway.

The indoor shooting range and training facility, named in honor of former Sheriff Lloyd B. Johnson, is in the early stages of construction. And finally, a citizens academy is in the future for St. John.

We will keep pressing forward.

I appreciate all of the prayers and support which gives us strength as we continue to make strides and progress in keeping our parish safe.

The public is invited to the Inauguration Ceremony on Friday, July 1 at my Alma Mater, East St. John High School gym at 4 p.m.

At 7 p.m. everyone is invited to a Inaugural Reception at the San Francisco Plantation.

In closing, I would like to say Happy Fathers Day to all of the dads out there!

Hopefully, you will get an opportunity to sit down and enjoy family time.

Mike Tregre is sheriff of St. John the Baptist Parish. He can be reached at sheriff@stjohnsheriff.org.