Jeff Davis Parish Sheriff Kyle Miers says he is pleased with progress the department has made during his first six months in office.

“Our initial focus was just coming in and assessing what we were taking over and getting everyone on the same page and developing our plans for the future, which was easy to do because everyone jumped on board,” Miers said.

The focus now is to continue that momentum into his first term of office, Miers said during an interview Monday with the American Press.

“We have a few things left on the lists that I haven’t been able to check off yet, so the focus for the next six months will just be to continue to check off those things,” he said.

Among those accomplishments, Miers said he was able to develop a chain of command and pay scale with additional incentives added for all employees. The department also developed its first ever physical assessment and is working to ensure deputies stay up-to-date on all annual training.

Technology has also been updated to help streamline procedures.

Miers said he is pleased and very proud of what has been accomplished and for all the employees and deputies for the work they have done.

The department was 13 people short when he took office on July 1, 2024. It is now fully staffed with just over 100 employees.

Miers said he has also been overwhelmed by the support from the community in his first six months in office as he upheld his campaign promise of leading with integrity, upholding accountability and maintaining an open-door policy.

“The biggest thing has been community involvement,” he said. “The feedback has been positive and I am thankful for the people’s trust in us.”

He said patrols are responding to more calls of service inside and outside of city limits. Four new patrol units have been added to the department’s fleet, with four more to be added, he said.

“Our deputies are out there day in, day out doing their best and going to calls,” he said.

He said the department has received a lot of positive feedback on the increase in patrols and the professionalism of deputies responding to calls.

“There are things that hadn’t been done prior to our administration that are being done now and the community is seeing it and letting us know,” he said.

More than 600 cases were closed in the first six month and detectives are attempting to contact all victims of crime, he said.

He said a lot is being done behind-the-scenes to address drug problems.

“Even though it has only been six months we have accomplished a lot on the drug issues,” he said.

The department has brought the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) back to the schools and is working to create a new Stay Alert, Stay Alive program.

“I want people to know that just because law enforcement won’t give them every single detail on drug investigations that doesn’t mean nothing is going on,” he said. “We don’t want all the information out there because the bad guys and drug dealers see and hear that same information, so we have to be careful with what we are informing the public because that information affects our investigations and plans that we have in place. Just because you don’t see or hear that information doesn’t mean nothing is happening.”

The sheriff’s office is also working with the Jeff Davis Parish School Board to provide school resource officers (SROs) and other safety measures for area schools.

The sheriff’s office, along with the school board, are investing over $100,000 a year with the Welsh Police Department investing 100 percent of an officer’s salary and equipment for the SRO program. The program places uniformed officers in the schools and during school-related events.

“We have elevated the school resource officer program three times, from just two certified SRO deputies and two who were not certified to five certified deputies and one Welsh police officer for a total of six SROs throughout the schools in the parish,” Miers said.

The department has also conducted SRO Task Force training, assisted other departments with needed training, assisted with events throughout the parish and developed good relationships with other law enforcement agencies in the area.