Sheriff Jay Russell announces the Ouachita Sheriff’s Office Deputies Making a Change Mentor Program will be implementing a new program working with local youth. The program, Community Strong Initiative (CSI), is an evidence based initiative comprised of committed deputy sheriffs working together to answer community based questions. The goal is to educate, facilitate and inform the youth of today on law enforcement interaction. Through this concentrated effort, deputies hope to create an awareness level that will decrease violence and increase safety. Public perception of law enforcement officers is often that as overly aggressive or somewhat passive when dealing with certain situations. The public may feel that demographics or levels of income dictate the outcome of most situations. One of the objectives of the program will be to improve the understanding the public has of law enforcement.
“Compliance” is one of the most important factors that can dictate a positive outcome during interaction. One of the officers main objectives each tour of duty is to complete the tasks he or she is assigned professionally, fairly and without incident. The objective is that all parties involved work through any situation safely. Compliance to verbal commands or instructions given by a law enforcement officer can ensure the safety to everyone involved. Understanding this process will also be one of the program’s objectives.
FOCUS will be the guidelines for the principles addressed during the program:
F-Finding Solutions
O-Open lines of communication
C-Continuous Improvement
U-Unity
S-Staying on Target
By addressing these core issues, the plan is to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the citizens in our Ouachita Parish communities.