Sheriff Anslum: Moving forward toward the future

St. Mary Parish Sheriff Scott Anslum spoke to Franklin Rotarians Tuesday of his hope for the future of the parish’s sheriff’s office and his goal of continued work with parish communities.
“We are excited about moving forward toward the future,” Anslum said. “We want to continue to help the department evolve, whether that’s through education or the type of resources we are able to pull in, such as equipment utilized to make our jobs a little easier and to provide better service for the community here in St. Mary Parish.”
According to Anslum, in April the sheriff’s office is up for its national reaccreditation, which he is confident they will achieve, as well as is looking toward holding next November’s special election for sheriff.
Anslum also said, “One thing that is important to me as your sheriff, is becoming and staying active in the community. We participate in a lot of organizations throughout the community, and we will continue to do that. We will go out of our way to do anything we can.”
He went on to praise his staff, calling them, “second to none,” and that he is “very proud of them.” In example of their excellence, Anslum offered the fact that many employees of the sheriff’s office volunteer in the community, in their off-time, to support community organizations and raise money toward “community success.”
In terms of the parish’s economic stresses of late, Anslum said, “Obviously, this year we are hoping that the economy takes a turn with an uptick. We feel the challenges with collections on sales taxes and revenues that we have to deal with. So far, collections are coming in a little slow.”
He said that for their part, the sheriff’s office monitors its own budget and expenditures very carefully and does their best to “do more with less.”
He also stated the department is consistently trying to streamline its efficiency and transparency to provide the kind of service the parish expects.
Anslum fielded some questions from Rotarians as well, discussing the workings of the parish jail and the keeping of its inmates.
One question asked by Rotarian Tony Scelfo, was, “If the economy continues its downturn like it is doing now, would you do what Joe Arpaio did in Arizona, and put the prisoners in tents?”
Anslum answered, “No, our correctional facility can be burdensome, as far as the expenses of the facility and operating of our parish prison are concerned, and that is no secret. It can be a burden on the parish government and it can be a burden on us. But, there are ways we can try to offset costs.”
To that point, Anslum lamented the sheriff’s office having had to suspend the parish’s inmate work-release program that had been championed by his predecessor, former sheriff Mark Hebert, saying that though the program had not been one by which the sheriff’s office made money, it was certainly one which had offset costs. Anslum cited the downward trend in incarceration in the parish and the state, as the reason for the suspension of the program. But, he also assured Scelfo that prisons statewide were having the same difficulties, as their cost-offsetting work-release programs were being suspended as well, and for similar, if not the same reasons.
In a prison capable of housing over 300 inmates, Anslum said the number these days hovers at around 185 prisoners at any given time.
“But, there are some things that I’m looking at that might relieve some stress off the parish government,” Anslum said of defraying the costs of the jail. “And, there are things we can do to relieve the pressure off of me, as the sheriff, and as far as absorbing the costs in ways that I think could generate some funds to offset some costs.”
Questioning pivoted from prison funding to differences between Hebert’s department and the one Anslum now heads up.
Two things Anslum said he was proud of having accomplished within the department, so far, are the recent implementation of a crime scene unit, and having marked the cruisers of department supervisors, so as to provide readier public access to answered questions and authority within department hierarchy.