LULING — The St. Charles Sheriff’s Office is the first of five law enforcement agencies nationwide to be recognized as a Credible Leadership Organization by the National Command and Staff College.

The award was presented to Sheriff Greg Champagne as a surprise at a social event during a two-week session of the National Command and Staff College hosted by The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office in Luling.

Sheriff Craig Webre of Lafourche Parish and Sheriff Willy Martin of St. James Parish were on hand for the announcement.

The award recognizes the law enforcement agency that represents the highest ethical standards and a commitment to developing personnel with an unparalleled level of service capability and orientation to the community, according to National Command and Staff College Chancellor Mitch Javidi, Ph.D.

As a pre-requisite to selection for this recognition, the NCSC conducted a telephone survey of citizens in St. Charles Parish with 518 participants, which revealed a community satisfaction index of 92% and a customer service rating of 93%.

Additionally, an overall 84% of those surveyed found the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office to be a professional, caring, ethical, responsive agency with a “high sense of safety for the community they serve.”

Sheriff Greg Champagne said he was “extremely pleased, but not totally surprised” by the recognition.

“For the past 6 years, we have undertaken and applied an intense program of leadership learning, applying both online and live classroom education of the program created by The International Academy of Public Safety and The National Command and Staff College. All employees have either completed all four phases of the program or are progressing through them.

“The results are clearly paying off for us and, more importantly, for the people of St. Charles Parish. I am very proud of our employees and our community should be as well.”