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Chester Pritchett
About Tangipahoa Parish
Sheriff’s Office According
to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, “The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Patrol Deputies
are the most highly visible team within the Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office. These law enforcement deputies are responsible
for responding to over 45,000 calls a year to handle nuisance complaints, domestic violence cases, armed robberies and homicides.
These Deputies are also proactive in patrolling the residential areas throughout our parish. TPSO Criminal Patrol Deputies
additionally respond to automobile accidents and traffic incidents.
Because of their presence on
our interstates and roadways, many of the parish's drug arrests are the result of our Criminal Deputies who have been
trained on how to detect signs of drug presence and abuse. In addition, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office Criminal
Patrol division provides assistance to neighboring municipalities, assisting with major investigations or serious incidents.
The Criminal Patrol division
is one of the Sheriff's Office largest organizations. Our Criminal Deputies patrol roughly 823 square miles of within
Tangipahoa Parish. Our Parish is divided into four districts for purposes of law enforcement. This allows for a better response
time when responding to calls of service. This design allows our Sheriff to have effective leadership represented for each
shift. Our shifts are based on a 12 hour rotations which are staffed with one lieutenant, two sergeants, and nine Criminal
Patrol Deputies. The TPSO’s Criminal Patrol Deputies provide the initial response to calls for service and are available
24 hours a day, every day of the year. Since being electing, Sheriff Daniel Edwards has increased the number of our uniformed
criminal deputies by 25%.
This division also includes the first
full time K9 division in the history of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Daniel Edwards has 4 highly
trained; multi purpose K9 dogs who work along side of specially trained deputies. This division also includes one single purpose
K9 and two bloodhound dogs. These highly trained K9 teams are used in searches and apprehensions of high risk suspects and
narcotic detections. The Tangipahoa Parish has the first two nationally certified and accredited K9 companions in our parish.
The majority of reports generated
by the Tangipahoa Parish Road Deputies are sent on to the Detective Division for investigation, with the detectives handling
cases ranging from misdemeanor thefts to homicides.
Responsibilities of the detectives
include securing crime scenes, collecting evidence and interviewing suspects and witnesses. They work closely with road patrol
officers, crime lab personnel, the Parish Coroner and the District Attorney. One of their major responsibilities is preparing
the case for court and testifying in trials. The detectives have completed a variety of law enforcement
training programs focused on homicides, forgeries, narcotics, sex crimes and other topics.”
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