It was 28 years ago that Greg Champagne first took office as sheriff, and after being sworn in last week for his eighth term – the most ever by a St. Charles Parish sheriff – he says there’s a little bit of both good and bad that comes with it.
“It’s bad because it means I’m getting old,” Champagne said with a laugh. “But it’s certainly nice that the public has had enough confidence in me to stay.”
There was a strong turnout at the Sheriff’s Office’s headquarters for his inauguration last week, where his daughter Rochelle – now a judge, and who was just 12 years old when Champagne first became sheriff – swore her father in for term No. 8.
He is the second longest-tenured sheriff in Louisiana, behind only Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre, who has just begun his ninth term in office. The local record belongs to Champagne, though, as 23 years as sheriff was the previous high mark set by former sheriffs Lewis Ory and Leon Vial Sr.
As to how much longer he may continue to go, Champagne said not even he knows that answer right now.
“Obviously, I’m going to retire at some point. That day will come. I don’t know when that’s going to be,” Champagne said. “I’m going to serve this term and see how it feels from there.”
One thing Champagne is certain of: over his nearly three decades overseeing the parish’s law enforcement, so much has changed.
When he first began as sheriff, there were just five standalone computers in the office.
“There was no such thing as email,” he said. “We started direct deposit for paychecks and a lot of our employees panicked when there was no paper check.”
The technology has certainly come a long way from there, and not just at headquarters. Surveillance cameras have aided in a major way, Champagne said, and can cut off potential ongoing criminal activity.
“Especially with petty burglary, theft, the cameras are able to catch people in the act. You’re not able to just burglarize cars for days on end until we hope to get lucky and catch them,” Champagne said.
Body cameras and dashboard cameras on patrol cars have also allowed for far more documentation once police are on the scene.
The Sheriff’s Office’s once small jail has been expanded and a highly regarded training academy and home base have been established. In 2011, the family of the late Judge Edward Dufresne set aside seven acres of the land he had dedicated to the parish for the purpose of a headquarters. The main headquarters was built in 2011 and the training center was added alongside of it, again through the help of the Dufresne family.
Today, the Sheriff’s Office has its divisions unified at its Luling headquarters, but in 1996 those were spread around the parish.
“Everything was spread out when I first began,” Champagne said. “We weren’t centralized and you didn’t see people.”
The construction of the Nelson Coleman Correctional Center expanded the ability to hold prisoners – the original jail when Champagne took over could hold only around 110 people. Once the new facility was built, what had been a revolving door of inmates was no longer the case.
“That jail was built with the idea we’d go from housing 120 a day to about 250 to 300 … what we’ve seen happen is it’s been a deterrent, because criminals know they’ll go to jail when they get caught,” Champagne said. “It’s helped bring crime down and make things safer, which is what we’re here for.”
The headquarters and jail are the result of three major projects, none of which, Champagne notes, caused taxes to raise for parish residents.
“It came from borrowing and spending wisely. Most of that is paid off, and in two to three years we’ll have it all paid off. The (upgrades) have been really good for us,” Champagne said.
Other changes over the years have come in the form of different training methods and areas. There’s been additional focus on de-escalation and crisis intervention.
He’s proud that over his tenure, crime has continued to steadily decrease. In January, the Sheriff’s Office recorded the lowest crime rate of his tenure, as documented through the Uniform Crime Reporting system, a nationally mandated crime reporting format. The rate also represented a nearly 14 percent decrease from the prior year’s numbers.
There are new challenges to address as well. Just as email was nonexistent when Champagne took over, there was no texting either – much less the full access to the internet people have today through their phones. For all the benefits that can bring, it also adds some danger.
“I don’t have the statistics in front of me, but it seems to be the rate of accidents is higher and I have to believe a lot of that comes down to distracted driving,” Champagne said. “You can see it – people have their phone in their face while they’re driving down the road at 50 miles per hour. It’s crazy.”
The border crisis is also an ongoing worry.
“There are two million got-aways. The FBI has been rounding up people tied to ISIS. And with tensions rising with radical Islam, the war between Israel and Hamas, who knows what we could be looking at down the road,” Champagne said.
His immediate goals for the time being are to continue to strive for more professionalism. Champagne also would like to raise pay for Sheriff’s Office employees – a five-percent across the board raise was granted three months ago, and Champagne believes budgeting could allow for another bump in the near future.
“You have to always try to get better,” Champagne said. “Complacency is the enemy of success.”
