By: CARISSA HEBERT

Managing Editor

Felony, the parish’s newest K-9 officer, will be joining the Evangeline Parish Sheriff Office’s law enforcement team, according to Sheriff Eddie Soileau who is excited about the addition of this dual-purpose animal.

Felony is a female Belgian Shepherd Dog, Malinois – (pronounced /’mælinwa:/), who will be used for traffic stops, search warrants, schools, tracking both missing persons and suspects and to deter narcotics. She’s going to be a part of the sheriff’s narcotics and traffic divisions.

Soileau thanks Opelousas Police Chief Perry Gallow for this generous donation. He said Chief Gallow offered them assistance by donating Felony to the sheriff’s office, and he thanks the chief and his staff for assisting Soileau with his goal to continue improving law enforcement for this parish.

Soileau hoped he could purchase a narcotics dog in the future, when funds were available in his budget. “This donation from the OPD (Opelousas Police Department) is a blessing to our department.” Soileau said the donation is a plus for the parish and its residents, as the law enforcement community continues to do battle against illegal narcotics. “Dogs are the greatest tool as far as narcotics,” he said. “We’re very pleased with OPD. We can’t thank them enough.”

Captain Keith Dupre, chief of detectives, is also pleased with the addition of Felony to the battle against illegal narcotics in the parish. He said a few weeks ago, OPD assisted the sheriff’s office with a drug bust, and they discussed the possible donation of one of their K-9s to the sheriff’s office. Dupre said a narcotics detection animal will be a big asset to the sheriff’s department. He said K-9s can detect location of narcotics on persons, in cars, homes and other places where officers might miss them. He said suspects hide the narcotics in areas where they hope law enforcement will not find them. They have so many places to hide narcotics. K-9s are the perfect tools for situations like this.

Soileau agrees and said this will definitely be a positive tool in the his goal to bring the best law enforcement possible to the parish.

Felony will be quickly implemented into the sheriff’s narcotics section. She’ll be deputized and put to work as soon as she and her handler complete training.

“She’ll have the same rights as a police officer,” Soileau said. “She’ll be registered through the clerk of court’s office.”

Felony will attend the Louisiana K-9 School in Abbeville to complete a three-week refresher course beginning June 8, and her new handler, Sgt. Joey Peloquin, will be attending so he and Felony can improve their working relationship. This is the school where Felony was initially trained, so Soileau believes this will only improve her skills in detection.

“They’re going to gel,” Soileau said. “Peloquin has showed a tremendous drive in his working ability as far as narcotics work and his knowledge, so they will make a great team.”