September 21, 2001

Ascension Parish Sheriff Department
Jeff Wiley
828 South Irma Blvd
Gonzales, La. 70737

Sir:

On this date at 9:45 AM I observed two Ascension Parish motorcycle units, numbers 250 and 252, parked at the Burger King on Highway 73. When I questioned an employee of the restaurant I was told “they had been there for some time eating breakfast”.

A call to your captain Scott assured me that they were cleared to be there. But a question still begs to be answered. Should two units be out of service at one time, when this parish has a crime rate between 5 and 8 on a scale of ten, and the unacceptable distinction of 114 highway deaths in five years?

This is the second such example of poor management of sheriff equipment and manpower I have observed in the past two weeks.

I would appreciate the common decency to a response to this matter. I will assume a no response to indicate that in fact there is a problem with the proper management of manpower and equipment in your organization.

Chuck Le Mieux

Cc/email to:
The Ascension Citizen
Ascension Parish CAO Mr. R. Anderson
The Ascension Parish Council c/o Mr. R. Loupe
Mr. Martin McConnell Ascension Parish Council District 10
Mr. Dudley Brown Ascension Parish Council District 4
Mr. Darnell Martinez Ascension Parish Council District 11
Mr. Jerry Savoy Ascension Parish Council District 9
Mr. Shafter Kling Ascension Parish Council District 8
Mr. Donnell Nickens  Ascension Parish Council District 5
Mr. Alvin Thomas Ascension Parish Council District 1
Mr. Adrian Thompson Ascension Parish Council District 3
Mr. Harold Marchand Ascension Parish President
Ms. Patricia Cook Ascension Parish Executive Secretary
Mr. Doyle Mitchell Ascension Parish Public Works
Mr. Bill Roux Ascension Parish Public Works
Mr. Jeff Wiley Ascension Parish Sheriff c/o Mr. Tony Bacala
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Essary
Mr. David Young The Gonzales Weekly
Mr. David Young The Community Mirror
Mr. David Young Ascension Parish TV
Mr. R. Carter Louisiana Department of Transportation
Mr. G. Nelson Louisiana Department of Transportation
Mr. John MacMillan The Advocate’s River Parish Office
Representative Emma Devillier
Representative John Juba Diez
Representative Roy Quezaire, Jr.
Senator Louis J. Lambert Louisiana State Senate
Mr. Steven Ward The Advocate’s River Parish Office
WBRZ Channel 2 News Room Mr. Marvin Hurst
WBRZ Channel Two Road Patrol Ms. Jennifer Sheffield

A copy of this letter has been published to the web site Inside Ascension Parish at http://www.inascension.com