South Lake Charles Kiwanis Club members heard from Calcasieu Parish Sheriff candidate Dustan Abshire Wednesday. During the next two weeks, the group will hear from Mike Reid and Stitch Guillory, and the American Press will report on those presentations.

“I’m not running for sheriff because I need a job,” Abshire said. “I have a busy job. I’m in court just about every day. I’m running because I love this community. I love this parish.”

Abshire is a criminal attorney who “ grew up at the Sheriff’s Department,” he said. At eight years old, he started the junior deputy program, became a “cop” at 18 working at the jail, a patrol officer at 20 and a detective at 27, bypassing the burglary, theft and misdemeanor division and going straight to sex crimes and child abuse cases. He credited his work at the CPSD with helping make him “the man he is today.”

Abshire has been practicing law since 2015 and started his legal career as a prosecuting attorney.

“I know the law,” he said. “But doing the same things we were doing in the 80s isn’t working today. We need to think outside of the box. We need a different perspective.”

One of the things not working today, according to Abshire, are certain types of drug possession arrests.

“We get federal funding based on arrests, so we spend a stupid amount of time and money on minimal drug buys. There is a huge difference between a person addicted to drugs who is selling drugs to support his habit compared to a real time drug dealer who is moving large amounts of narcotics.  There’s way too much time, money and resources wasted on somebody with a little bit of weed or a little bit of this drug or a little bit of that drug.  I think we need to take our resources and concentrate more on large scale things. Simple possessions, get them in a second chance program.”

As a way to deal with drug addiction, he said he would work with certain professions who focus on this.

Relationship building among community, youth and other law enforcement entities was a recurring topic in his presentation to the Kiwanians.

“The Sheriff’s Office has a school resource officer in every junior and high school in this area, not in elementary schools,” he said, naming a few exceptions. Adding the presence of law enforcement would not only have a safety component, but help build connection between law enforcement and youth at an early age.

In addition to collaborating on reducing crime, Abshire noted the advantages of better communication between different law enforcement entities and even having a single radio frequency for all law enforcement to use during certain situations.

“Some smaller agencies share radio communications,” he said. The Sheriff’s Department does not.

“You might remember the recent high speed pursuit that started in Carlyss and ended in Moss Bluff. The insanity to me was that the officers were calling into their dispatch to call the other office dispatch to relay messages, playing phone tag in a high pursuit chase when citizen’s of this community’s safety and lives were at stake,” he said.

One Kiwanian asked why a municipal police department could not have responded sooner to the 911 call of a woman who accidentally locked her daughter in the car while loading groceries on a high temp day.

Abshire blamed low pay, the personal handling of all calls and low morale for the shortage of area law enforcement officers, not just within the CPSD.

“The pay can’t compete with the plants,” he said, remembering that when he worked there the atmosphere was more family-like. “If law enforcement officers were happier with their jobs and talked about how satisfying it is, maybe we could steal some of those guys from those higher paying jobs to come do a more rewarding job, a job with more benefits and steady pay, compared to a plant turnaround. Again that’s my opinion.”

Abshire said some reports could be submitted to law enforcement by computer, rather than officers taking the time to get the details in person for certain offenses.

“In Florida, they have automated reports where you go online just like you do with your auto claims with your insurance company,” he said.  That will alleviate the workload on a deputy to allow him to take care of an emergency like the one you described. And, I’m not saying if you left your door open and they took a few dollars out of your car isn’t important. But that should be something you can take care of online.”

He promised to work hard like he does now in his current role, 10- or 12-hour days

“I want the Sheriff’s Office to be a better place to work so that deputies work harder for every citizen so that we will be safer in our homes, our schools, our churches, our businesses and on the street.”