This is the third in a series of candidate question and answer features St. Tammany News will run before the upcoming elections. Each candidate was asked a series of the same five questions.

Like his two opponents, JJ. Jennings is right at home when it comes to law enforcement. A former police officer with the New Orleans Police Department, Jennings currently works for the Pearl River Police Department, where he is a lieutenant and patrol division commander. As an officer with the NOPD, Jennings has been shot while on duty and has received several commendations for bravery and service.

Jennings is also a businessman with a real estate license, and has owned several businesses. He worked as an engineer on offshore rigs for Halliburton. Jennings believes that his youth and more than 20 years of law enforcement experience make him the best choice to run the Slidell Police Department.

JJ. Jennings

Jennings is married and has four daughters and one grandson.

What do you think is the biggest problem facing the Slidell Police Department, and what will you do to alleviate that problem? The budget is the biggest problem. As I have stated from day one. I will find federal grants to help. Grants will help to pay for technology, overtime and even to hire more officers. Those officers hired will be paid for up to three years.

Despite the city’s low crime rate, there seems to be an increase in illegal drug sales and use. How do you plan to combat this crime? I will work close with a multi jurisdiction task force and target those areas with the problems. Also I will work the public to learn of illegal activity.

With decreasing revenues coming into the city’s coffers, there will be a budget crunch. How do you plan to address this, and still maintain an effective police force? As I stated before, I will work hard to find federal grants for overtime to supplement the officers pay. I have worked with grants in the past and this is nothing new to me. If we don’t find ways to supplement the police salaries we will lose officers to other agencies. I will also look into the budget to see what cost can be cut if any to help.

What more can be done to reach out to the residents of Slidell to make them more aware of the department’s presence and increase the trust between residents and police officers? I am the only candidate that ever mentioned Quality of Life Officers. I will assign a quality of life officer to homeowners associations and to neighborhoods without associations. This officer will be the contact person for business owners and neighbors. He will be the officer who will learn of problems in your area. He will be the officer the public will tell about drug activity, suspicious activity, even street lights being out and more. He will also give information to the public about problems we are having in your neighborhood and what you can do to help the police department. I know from my past training and experience as long as the public has someone to contact we will learn about the problems you are having in your neighborhood and we will work on this together.

If the city continues to grow at its present rate, how will that effect the police department, and what can be done to face the challenge of more people, more traffic and more crime? We have to get up to date in technology. We have fallen behind. Most people still don’t know an officer out on the street still has to radio in to the dispatcher and tell her to call on the telephone to other agencies just to see if someone is wanted for a local warrant. This is not being done on all stops, thus letting criminals go. We need computers in each and every patrol vehicle. I have said in the past we need grants, but if grants are not available we have to find other ways. I have put computers in each and every patrol vehicle in the Pearl River Police Department. I did this without a grant. We were able to go to Baton Rouge to a warehouse and picked up second hand police computers for only $50.00 each. We now can do accident reports from our vehicles wirelessly and even from our residence.

This also can be done with the Slidell Police Department. We don’t always need new as long as it works and gets the job done. I will work with other agencies to exchange information on crime, drug activity and even gangs that try to move into our great city. Folks, you need a Police Chief who knows how to stretch a dollar in these tough times. We are in a budget crunch and you need a chief who has worked with budgets in the past to keep our city of Slidell moving forward. I am the Police Chief you need I have the experience, knowledge and training. “JJ” Jennings.