Sgt. Robert Garofalo named Deputy of the Year by Knights of Columbus

Sgt. Robert Garofalo named Deputy of the Year by Knights of Columbus

Each year, the Knights of Columbus Archbishop Rummel Council 5747 in Chalmette recognizes a local sheriff’s deputy, firefighter and paramedic of the year for their service to the residents of St. Bernard Parish.

Sgt. Robert Garofalo, a 20-year veteran of the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office was named 2020 Deputy of the Year. Engineer Justin Sager, an 11-year veteran of the St. Bernard Fire Department, was named Firefighter of the Year; and Acadian Ambulance Paramedic Jay Authement, whose career spans 40 years, was named Paramedic of the Year.

The three first responders were honored during the St. Bernard Parish Council meeting held March 3 in the St. Bernard Parish Government Complex council chambers in Chalmette.

In addition to presenting the honorees with plaques, the Knights of Columbus and its Ladies Auxiliary also presented them with monetary donations.

Sgt. Robert Garofalo, a detective with the Criminal Investigations Bureau, began his career in law enforcement in 2000 as a member of the Corrections Division at the Parish Prison.

He graduated in 2002 from the Peace Officers Standards and Training police academy, and in 2003 he moved to the Field Operations Bureau’s Patrol Division. In 2009, Sgt. Garofalo became a detective with CIB where he has worked for the past 11 years.

Sgt. Garofalo’s daily duties as a full-time detective with CIB include being the primary investigator on crimes such as homicides, rapes, robberies and burglaries. In addition, he also takes on several added responsibilities for the department.

During the course of his career, Sgt. Garofalo has been awarded certifications in various fields of expertise, including interviewing and interrogation, crime scene investigations, radar, standardized field sobriety testing and crash reconstruction.

Sgt. Garofalo is a four-year member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team, or S.W.A.T. team, and serves as a certified crisis negotiator.

He is the only Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) drone pilot for the department. He maintains all of the software and equipment and keeps possession of the drone, which has assisted with the apprehension of several wanted individuals.

He recently completed a three-week course through the United States Secret Service's National Computer Forensics Institute in Hoover, Alabama which included network intrusion training and computer forensics.

Sgt. Garofalo also is currently assigned part time to two federal task forces, the FBI Joint Child Abduction Rapid Deployment Team (JCARD) which responds to missing children anywhere in the metro New Orleans area, and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force which provides local agencies with technological assistance with crimes involving computers and cellular devices.

He also has surpassed any other detective in the department in the number of search and arrest warrants he has written. From January through November 2019, Sgt. Garofalo was responsible for writing and securing 52 warrants, many of which led to arrests.

Sgt. Garofalo’s dedication to public service is a family affair. His wife of five years, Sgt. Jennifer Dassau Garofalo, has worked for the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office for 11 years. She is a supervisor in the 911 Communications Center. They are expecting their first child in July.

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