Candidate for Sheriff Nick Tranchina Calls for Independent Investigation of St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office; Requests Sheriff Randy Smith Release List of Sanctioned Deputies Tied to Predecessor’s Sex Crimes Case
Last week’s indictment of former St. Tammany Sheriff Jack Strain on multiple sex crimes charges is yet another red flag for the parish and sends a strong signal that criminal enterprises conducted during the 20 year-long Strain Administration require serious, independent investigation, according to Nick Tranchina, candidate for sheriff.
Some of the alleged sex crimes occurred when he was sheriff and were uncovered during an investigation into the awarding of an inmate work-release contract to the children of two ranking deputies while Strain was sheriff. Clifford “Skip” Keen and David Hanson Sr., both former sheriff’s office captains, pleaded guilty in February to profiting from a department contract while maintaining their public employment in a scheme the federal government says involved Strain. The St. Tammany District Attorney and the Louisiana State Police spearheaded the sex crimes investigation.
In a statement addressing the indictment of his predecessor, Sheriff Randy Smith said he was “duty-bound to determine if any of the sheriff’s associates or colleagues were complicit or aware of any of the information that we learned upon investigating.” He further states that “revelations led me to make several changes in the upper ranks of the Sheriff’s Office.” The sheriff says he is “sure more facts will come to light to further explain Jack Strain’s behavior and the depth of the corruption.”
Tranchina, himself a former deputy, detective, and supervisor with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office for nearly 17 years, said it is both alarming and disturbing that the current sheriff is investigating his own department. “There is no way this can be a legitimate, unbiased inquiry,” he noted. “Smith is part of the law enforcement culture with 32 years of service and his own remarks on ‘changes in the upper ranks’ resulting from the Strain investigation show a lack of accountability to the public and no transparency of the process.”
Tranchina wants Sheriff Smith to release a list of the “upper ranks” fired, demoted or sanctioned in the course of the investigation, how their cases were managed, and whether criminal charges have been filed against any deputies on the list.
The sheriff’s rather dismissive comment about there not being room “for a good ole’ boys’ network in law enforcement, especially one that may be willing to put friendship over law” should come under scrutiny, according to Tranchina. “We can’t take lightly or employ catchy euphemisms to describe a subculture of ‘good ole’ boys’ that hide corruption and criminal activity. It does not inspire public confidence and will not root out corruption.”
Tranchina has stated that, if elected sheriff, he will ask the Attorney General’s Office to fully investigate all leads and follow them wherever they may go in order to purge the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office of what Randy Smith generously calls ‘the good old boys.’ “We need an independent investigator to do the job; the current sheriff cannot be fair or impartial over the office he holds. The people of St. Tammany deserve law enforcement they can trust. There is much work to be done and we should all demand accountability from our elected officials.”
