Lieutenant Roanne Sampson and Sergeant Keysla Perrilloux – both of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office – were recently honored with the Crimestoppers Deputy/Officer of the Year Awards during the 38th Annual Crimestoppers Awards Luncheon.
Sampson and Perrilloux are assigned to SCPSP’s Juvenile Programs Division. They work together to lead programs that focus on the youth in St. Charles Parish.
“I am very proud and appreciative of Roanne and Keysla for their efforts and dedication to the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office and to the citizens of St. Charles Parish,” Sheriff Greg Champagne said. “Lieutenant Sampson and Sergeant Perrilloux are changing the lives of young people one at a time. They are involved in many programs to bring positive change through youth initiatives in our Parish. They constantly look for new programs and events to benefit and empower our youth.”
Champagne said Sampson and Perrilloux build positive relationships and create trust with the parish’s youth.
“That helps not only reduce crime, but also provides the youth with much-needed life skills,” he added. “Roanne and Keysla also collaborate with community partners to offer a variety of programs and services.”
Those services include, but are not limited to, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Venturing Crew Girl’s Camp, St. Charles Parish Youth Rally, St. Charles Parish Believe in Youth LA, St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office Community Garden, and the GREAT Program Gang Resistance Education and Training.
“They make a difference in the life of every juvenile they meet,” Champagne said. “Law enforcement is about more than just arresting people. Without planting the seeds in our young people that they can live productive and crime-free lives with value, we would not be truly serving society.”
Sampson said she is humbled and grateful that she and Keysla were chosen for the award out of all the duo’s colleagues who are all doing amazing things in their respective divisions.
“I am truly blessed,” she said. “I absolutely love my job. This is what I was born to do. I am honored that the sheriff and our administration staff allow Keysla and I the opportunity to work with our youth in this manner. We get the opportunity to connect, create bonds and work with our youth on a continuous basis, which is rewarding in itself. It is a lot of work to do this job, but it does not feel like it. Even though Keysla and I manage over twenty programs, our mind is constantly thinking about the next new initiative that will build positive relationships between law enforcement and our youth.”
Sampson said one of her department’s popular programs is the community garden.
“I like seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces when the crops start producing vegetables or when they observe adults eating straight out of the garden,” she said. “Another one of my favorites is the Venturing Crew Girl’s Summer Camp, which is a partnership with the Boy Scouts of America. The girls get to experience old fashion fun – time without electronics. The girls get so busy with daily activities that they don’t even miss it.”
Sampson said another thing she loves about her job is uniting with community partners.
“We collaborate as a team to create additional programs, which are always beneficial to the children and families we serve,” she said. “We are also very thankful to United Way of St. Charles for their continuous support of all our initiatives. We are looking forward to providing additional programs in the near future.”
Perrilloux said she is truly honored to receive the recognition from Crimestoppers.
“It feels great being rewarded for something that feels like it’s my God given passion rather than just a job,” she said. “In this capacity I’ve encountered both challenges and problems at times, but with dedicated efforts most of these issues get solved and this is rewarding enough. This award goes hand in hand with the smiles, hugs, phone calls and praises from the kids and/or their parents after knowing something I’ve said or done has impacted the life of that family. Roanne and I work as a team and with our collective efforts we have made incredible outcomes in the lives of children. Youth who were previously in our programs return to our office to visit and share their lives with us as flourishing adults. This brings me great joy.”
Perrilloux said the best part about her job is interacting with the youth.
“I am an outdoors person and I truly enjoy the physical activities such as playing kickball, tug of war and volleyball at Girls Camp and with the Cub Scouts,” she said. “I love challenging the kids in sporting events. It makes me feel young again.”
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