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OPSO Event Calendar
| Date | Events |
| Aug-27 | Cost Benefits of Inmate Labor |
| Aug-19 | Two new K9's |
| Aug-19 | Entergy's Tree Trimming |
| Aug-18 | School Zone Safety |
RECOVERY.GOV
TRACK THE MONEY
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
Section 1511 Certification
Letter Work Release PGM
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PRESS RELEASE
(Aug 27 @
2:02pm) -- Cost Benefits of Inmate Labor and Public Bidding
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The public bid law was designed to protect the taxpayer’s dollars from being
wasted by a public entity giving contracts to their contractor friends at a high
bid. The Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office works hard to adhere to this law.
However, there are exceptions to the public bid law as it pertains to inmate
labor cost.
 The Ouachita Correctional Center has an average of 950 inmates that cost
taxpayers approximately thirty dollars a day to incarcerate. This is over 10
million dollars a year of our taxpayer’s money. Sheriff Toney intends to recoup
some of those taxpayer’s dollars by working those inmates with construction
skills in projects that benefit the law enforcement community. For example, the
Sheriff’s Office with the help of Police Jurors Mack Calhoun and Walt Caldwell,
obtained land to construct the Ouachita Parish Training Center, which has now
added the Public Rifle Range and Public Archery Range. With financial assistance
from the National Turkey Association and the Twin City Long Beards, we will soon
add a public shotgun sporting clay range. The training center and these ranges
would not have been possible if we had contracted it out for public bid. Drug
dealer’s bad money turned to good use and donations from citizens helped cover
these construction costs. We have used inmate labor, when appropriate, for
construction projects like these in order to save taxpayer’s dollars. The public
bid law was designed to protect and save taxpayer’s money in the first place.
  The
Training Center and Public Ranges have shown a substantial return on this
investment for our community. Recently we hosted a National Archery Tournament
that pumped over one million dollars into the local economy, as well as the
largest Med Camp Fundraiser Event ever, which produced over $76,000 in profit (a
$16,000 increase over last year). The funds from this event will go toward
sending 300 special needs children to a camp, which they would otherwise not be
able to attend. We also hosted the Cadet Academy and the CSI Camp for our youth
at the Training Center, in hopes of inspiring our youth to be future Law
Enforcement Officers. Additionally, our riding arena serves as a training center
for our Mounted Patrol, which is utilized at the Pecanland Mall during holidays,
helps with crowd control during our area parades, and hosts our area’s Horse
Assisted Therapy Program for challenged children. Without the use of inmate
labor, which started under Sheriff Richard Fewell, these training facilities
would not be possible.
 
Another area where taxpayer’s dollars can be recovered is by having inmates
participate in the OPSO Work Release Program. This is just one of five Work
Release Programs that currently do business in Ouachita Parish. The profits from
the other four Work Release Programs go to private businesses or out of our
parish. The OPSO Work Release Center saves the taxpayer’s another million
dollars a year that enables the sheriff to pay for more patrol deputies, patrol
vehicles, bullet proof vests, and provide greater protection for our citizens.
This program allows eligible nonviolent inmates to reenter the workforce when
serving the final stages of their sentence. This gives them job training, job
experience, allows them to build a trust relationship with an employer. It’s
more beneficial to taxpayers to have inmates working to improve our parish and
paying their own way instead of spending $28,500 a day of taxpayer’s hard earn
dollars just sitting in a jail. Otherwise we would spend more tax dollars public
bidding the projects that house them.
One example of the bid law not serving its intended purpose was displayed with a
recent project. The Sheriff’s Office purposed cost for the project was estimated
to be $85,000 using inmate labor. This project was eventually put to Public Bid
at a winning low bid of over $422,000 from a construction company located
outside of Ouachita Parish. With our limited tax resources, we at the Ouachita
Parish Sheriff’s Office are trying to do all we can to fully utilize our
taxpayer’s dollars and continue to adhere to the spirit of the bid law, while
providing the safety and security our community deserves.
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PRESS RELEASE
(August 19 @
11:12pm) -- OPSO to add two new K9's
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 On 5-26-2010, Sheriff Royce Toney
submitted a $21,000.00 grant request to the United States Department of Justice
for the purchase of two additional K-9’s. Sheriff Toney recognizes the
importance of K-9s in law enforcement for the apprehension of dangerous felons
and the locating and seizure of illegal narcotics.
These K-9’s will protect the
Deputies and Citizens of Ouachita Parish. On August 19, 2010 Sheriff Toney was
advised by the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement that the grant had been
approved and the money should be awarded soon. This grant will allow the Sheriff
to add these K-9’s with no expense to the tax payers. As you can see from the
photograph, Sheriff Toney is truly attached to his K-9’s.
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PRESS RELEASE
(August 19 @
3:02pm) -- Entergy's Tree Trimming
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Entergy’s transmission lines, which operate at voltages from 69kV to 500kV,
provide reliable bulk power service to retail, commercial and industrial
customers.
Trained transmission line and vegetation right-of-way personnel inspect these
lines at scheduled intervals. These inspections identify all encroachments,
including trees, buildings, antennas and other structures that represent a risk
to reliable operation. The company then mitigates those threats to the system as
appropriate.
Entergy’s contractors remove identified encroachments following the
provisions established and recorded in right-of-way easements. These permits and
servitudes grant Entergy the right to maintain, clear and keep clear a specified
right-of-way width along its transmission lines.
Entergy is required by multiple regulatory agencies to comply with clearance
requirements, which vary depending on voltage. Entergy is subject to significant
fines and penalties if service or operation is affected by trees growing on or
within established rights-of-way or if encroachments are not removed in a timely
manner. This obligation includes maintaining proper clearances in residential,
rural and industrial areas.
We work at maintaining transmission line rights-of-way not just to stay in
compliance with required standards, but also because we know that vegetation
encroaching on a transmission line might mean our customers’ lights might go
out. Everything we do is aimed at ensuring continued reliable service to our
customers.
Free Wood Chips: Need some free wood chips? Our tree
trimming contractors will often have wood chips available for free. These chips
are from various tree species, are irregular in size, shape, and color, and may
include small twigs and rakings. They are made available to our customers and
can be delivered upon request when tree crews are in your area. For more
information you can stop and ask a tree trimming crew working in your area, or
call Entergy at 1-800-368-3749 (1-800-ENTERGY).
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School Zone Safety - An Important
Reminder. |
Sheriff Royce Toney and the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office would like to remind everyone that as students return to school for the new year that they need to be on the lookout for children and bicyclists. They should be particularly cautious when traveling through school zones and near bus stops.
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The basic back-to-school safety tips for drivers include:
• SLOW DOWN AND OBEY ALL TRAFFIC LAWS AND SPEED LIMITS.
• STOP FOR SCHOOL BUSSES THAT ARE LOADING OR UNLOADING CHILDREN.
• WATCH FOR RED FLASHING LIGHTS AND THE EXTENDED ARM ON THE BUS.
• WATCH FOR AND OBEY SIGNALS FROM SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS.
• WATCH FOR SCHOOL ZONE SIGNALS AND OBEY THE 15MPH SPEED LIMITS.
• DO NOT PASS OTHER VEHICLES IN SCHOOL ZONES OR AT CROSSWALKS.
• LIMIT CELL PHONE USE IN SCHOOL ZONES AND NEAR CONGESTED AREAS.
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