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Print Sneak Peak - Thin Blue Logic

by Christiaan Mader

Leger's campaign position that LPSO patrols are dangerously undermanned doesn't stand up to much scrutiny.

Leger makes his stump speeh
Robin May

It’s becoming more and more obvious that a Chad Leger-run sheriff’s office would likely not be a simple continuation of Sheriff Mike Neustrom’s legacy of progressive law enforcement. While, for the most part, Leger has sung a similar song of praise for Neustrom’s catalog of diversion policies as his three competitors, he’s begun to more openly stand on a conviction that Lafayette is under-served by current staff and patrol levels within the department, starkly implying that the city is imperiled for it. Scare tactics are not uncommon in any election, but they take on a different immediacy when the implication is one of life and death. Without more cops, the appeal goes, Lafayette is in danger of deteriorating further into a state of criminal war. That’s a troubling proposition indeed. But perhaps more troubling is that Leger seems to have arrived at this conclusion without much to back it up.

Through his transitional plan, and in the growing certitude of his commentary in forums, Leger has harped that Lafayette Parish is under-served, on a per capita basis, by current staffing levels in patrol, narcotics, investigation and corrections. It’s a tale as old as time when it comes to law enforcement electoral platforms: Got more crime? Get more cops.

To get the rest of the story, check out this month print edition of The IND.