Source: NPSO
Limited office space at the Natchitoches Parish Courthouse, an office building that flooded during heavy rain and an unsettled foundation with cracks in the wall and floor, prompted Sheriff Stuart Wright and Command Staff to seek an office building with a safe and secure working environment for the Sheriff’s Office High Tech Crime Investigation Unit. The Sheriff’s Office had been looking for a suitable building due to lack of room for expansion at the courthouse and the Criminal Investigations Division according to Chief Deputy Greg Dunn.
The High Tech Crime Unit, that investigates child pornography, computer-aided solicitation of juveniles, financial fraud and other internet based crimes has become a valuable investigative tool in today’s law enforcement. The unit also assists the criminal investigations division and drug task force in homicides and narcotics investigations. Sophisticated high tech equipment is utilized in this division. The equipment must be maintained and kept in a cool and dry atmospheric environment.
Deputies recently discovered an available office building, (Mid South Bank) on the north Natchitoches Bypass that is move in ready with little to no office repairs or modifications having to be made before it can be utilized by the NPSO. The building is centrally located and has enough room if future expansion is needed. While looking for a building, deputies identified two other office buildings centrally located on the market with a price tag of $500,000.
The CARES ACT enabled our office to purchase the Mid South Bank for $265,000, significantly under the appraised value with no cost to Natchitoches Parish taxpayers. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress with overwhelming, bipartisan support and signed into law by President Trump March 27, 2020.
This over $2 trillion economic relief package was on President Trump’s Administration’s commitment to protecting the American people from the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
The CARES Act provides fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserve jobs for our American industries.
