It is hard to believe that the end of 2017 is almost here. I saw Christmas decorations last weekend while at the mall and most people here in Louisiana are wearing shorts and T-shirts with some yards still with green grass.

Hurricane season is wrapping up and did disappoint with the amount of worry and nail biting that comes with this time of year — Category 3s, 4s, and 5s all around us.

We may need to start conducting blood pressure checks at the Emergency Operations Center in the future. SJSO did send a team of officers to Texas to assist in any way we could. Those impacted areas of Texas and Florida could have easily been us. Please continue to pray for their recovery.

The Sheriff’s Office has been busy lately and it has all been positive. Our parish hosted a successful Andouille Festival. We had 42 parties for Night Out Against Crime. The superheroes were a big hit for Night Out Against Crime and Halloween. This could be a new Sheriff’s Office tradition.

Please remember that we constantly seek ways to keep citizens of St. John Parish informed of the activities, arrests and other progress in our department. We have been using social media outlets to the fullest extent in order to keep citizens informed.

We would encourage citizens to download our APP on your IPhone or android device.

You can also log onto stjohnsheriff.org to get updates on incidents such as traffic, weather or crime.

I ask all citizens to rely on official details from our social media outlets for accurate information.

I am very pleased to announce that the West bank Substation is nearing its start date.

This project is a partnership between SJSO and the St. John Parish Council and Parish President Natalie Robottom.

It has been problematic for SJSO to drag equipment for the East Bank to the West Bank whenever a serious issue arose. There will be an announced meeting on the West Bank for citizens to get a firsthand look the blueprints before construction is initiated.

As we do every year, SJSO will be out in full force with extra patrols in the shopping center areas to give an added level of security for shoppers in St. John Parish.

The officers really enjoy this program, and the citizens don’t seem to mind either. The officers have received positive comments and thank yous from shoppers trying to get back to their vehicles safely at night.

We should never forget to recognize all of the current and retired members of the military on Veterans Day today. We are thankful every day for their sacrifices made for us to be the greatest country in the world.

In closing, the Sheriff’s Office will host its annual senior citizens Thanksgiving lunch on Tuesday/Nov. 21. Hope to see all of the familiar faces and even some new faces this year.

Happy Thanksgiving St. John Parish!!

Mike Tregre is sheriff of St. John the Baptist Parish. Reach him at sheriff@stjohnsheriff.org.