New group, the One Voice Task Force, seeks to bring community together and foster good relations with law enforcement to continue to have a safe parish

A child hugs Sheriff James Pohlmann.	Sheriff Pohlmann is flanked by Justice of the Peace Barbara Manuel and Pastor Rodney Jiles.
Jashayla Parker, 9, with the Sheriff’s Office bomb robot used to check suspicious items, displayed at the One Voice Task Force event.	Kids play knockerball.

Carol Emery of Violet said it is imperative St. Bernard Parish residents come together, learn how they can help one another, and foster good relations with law enforcement so the parish can continue to be a good place to raise a family.

Emery is assistant pastor of Living Cornerstone Church International on St. Bernard Parkway, just over the St. Bernard Parish line at Braithwaite. Jean Treadaway is pastor of the church, located in a former trade school.

She is part of a new group, the One Voice Task Force – which is comprised of ministers and lay people – which is working with kids and adults to try to identify specific problems the community faces and encourage people to work with the Sheriff’s Office to eradicate illegal drug-dealing and crime it causes.

“Our goal is to find out what people need’’ so they can find solutions, Emery said. “And we want to bring the community and law enforcement officers together.”

Sometimes, she said, “people need to e shown how to take care of themselves’’ and that’s something the One Voice Task Force would like to help do.
But people also need to help police so they can keep St. Bernard Parish a safe place, said Emery, who grew up in Violet and continues to live there. “This has to be a safe place where kids can go outside and play.’’

Others who formed the group include Pastor Treadaway, Minister Rodney Jiles of Violet, pastor of Higher Dimensions Deliverance Ministries, Terrance Sanchez, Justice of the Peace Barbara Manuel, Courtney Treadaway and Katedra Williams.

Jiles said, “The goal is to work with the parish, as a whole.’’

He said some people “like to point fingers’’ and blame others for problems, when the solutions are to work together. “People need to be accountable” for themselves in what they do and say, Jiles said.

The group had a community back-to-school outreach event Aug. 27 with food, games and other activities for kids on the grounds of the Living Cornerstone Church International.

The Sheriff’s Office participated in the event, assigning officers from its S.W.A.T. team and Drug Abuse Resistance Education program or D.A.R.E., along with bringing equipment including its bomb robot for investigating suspicious packages, a motorcycle, and other vehicles.

Sheriff James Pohlmann mingled with participants and had the juveniles there join him as he told the audience. “We have to look toward the future of this parish and the children are the future.’’

The Sheriff’s Office, he said, wants to continue a long history of trust by the community and wants to work with the community to combat drug abuse and the crime it leads to as addicts steal to support a habit.

The parish Fire Department also brought its smoke house to the event to show children how to safely escape a fire and also brought a fire truck.