Most men join the sheriff’s office for the chance to be a hero. For Deputy Kenneth Delaune, he only had to wait two years for that title to be thrust upon him.
Delaune was honored by the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office as their 2007 Deputy of the Year for keeping a suicidal woman from jumping off the Hale Boggs Bridge back on May 20.
The incident began when Delaune was transporting an arrestee to the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center and noticed a black vehicle parked on the southbound shoulder of the bridge. The car, a 1998 Honda Accord, fit the description from an earlier dispatch regarding a possible suicidal female that may attempt to jump from the bridge.
When Delaune approached the vehicle, he observed a woman just outside it, standing near the guardrail.
The woman was staring at the river.
Delaune immediately notified dispatch and stopped his patrol unit behind the black Honda. When he exited his vehicle, the woman began to back away from the railing. Delaune moved towards her while positioning himself between the vehicle and the guardrail, but the woman quickly glanced left and right then lunged towards the guardrail.
Delaune ran towards the woman as she began to climb onto the guardrail and grabbed her by the arm just as she attempted to jump. Delaune then secured the woman with his left arm while clinging to the guardrail with his right.
He was able to safely secure the woman in handcuffs.
“Deputy Delaune’s attention to detail and keen observation skills, combined with his excellent physical condition and total disregard for his own personal safety, enabled him to take quick action, which saved the life of this distraught young lady,” Sheriff Greg Champagne said. “Deputy Delaune’s actions were heroic and merit his selection as the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy of the Year 2007.”
Each year, supervisors submit write ups on officers they think deserve to be deputy of the year. Those write ups are then submitted to a committee who then votes for the winner.
In 2006, the deputy of the year award went to the narcotics division for their help in disrupting a multi-state narcotics ring.
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