A GOOD WORKING RELATIONSHIP

By Cadet LeAnn Phipps

          I graduated from the training academy in March of 2002.  I was assigned to Refuge Patrol, primarily working at Rockefeller Refuge in Cameron Parish.  From the day I arrived, Senior Agents Ivan Vaughn and Jeorge Briolo told me about the good working relationship that the agents had with the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Department.  In my short time working in Cameron Parish, I have seen first hand how this was no exaggeration.  Not only are the Cameron Parish Deputies very professional, but they have proven on many occasions how we as law enforcement officers are a team.

            I would like to mention a case when I saw this first hand.  In June, I was working Rockefeller Refuge with Senior Agent Ivan Vaughn, better known as Jr.  At about 10:20 a.m. we received a radio call from Rockefeller headquarters.  They told us that Deputy Ceaser Swire from the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Department needed us to meet him at Joseph’s Harbor ASAP.  We arrived a few minutes later and met with Deputy Swire.  He told us that he had been patrolling North Island Road when he saw a vehicle parked on the side of the road.  He noticed the driver of the vehicle off the roadway surrounded by the tall sea cane, however Deputy Swire could not see what he was doing.  He stopped his patrol car and asked the subject what he was doing.  The subject came out of the tall cane and stated that he was not doing anything and he was headed to Rockefeller.  Deputy Swire decided to let the subject leave before investigating any further.  As the subject drove off, he took down the license plate number and the make, model, and color of the vehicle.  He then decided to check the area to see what the subject had been doing in the grass.

            As he pulled back the cane, he saw an ice chest buried beneath the brush.  Inside it he found two plastic bags, both filled with freshly caught shrimp.  This is when he decided to notify us.  Deputy Swain took us to the area and showed us the ice chest.  We took photographs, weighed the shrimp, and ran the license plate through dispatch.  The information came back belonging to a subject that Sr. Agent Vaughn and I had previously been watching because we suspected that he was selling his catch from the Refuge.

            When we returned to the Refuge, the vehicle was there.  There were two subjects still cast netting for shrimp.  We watched them for a while, catching shrimp and filling up their ice chest.  Before long, the vehicle started down the road, left the Refuge, and headed toward North Island Road.  We followed them as they turned onto the road.  We stopped our vehicle and Sr. Agent Vaugh ran through the brush until he came to a place where he could see the men without being seen.  He watched as they pulled up to the same place that Deputy Swire had first observed them.  The driver got out, walked through the cane retrieving the ice chest, placed it in the back of the vehicle, and they left the area.

            It was a sight I won’t soon forget to see the look on their faces when we came down the road toward them with our blue lights on!  We read them their Miranda Rights, seized all their shrimp and gear, and issued them both citations.  We called Deputy Swire back to the area because the driver, who wasn’t very cooperative to begin with, failed to have a driver’s license that day.  The deputy kindly issued him another citation and sent him on his way.

            I would like to thank Deputy Swire and all the other deputies who have always been there to assist us and offer their help.  Sr. Agents Vaughn and Briolo were right, and I hope to build as good of a relationship with the Cameron Parish Sheriff’s Department as they have.