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Lafayette Parish Sheriff Mark Garber joins Discover Lafayette to discuss his career and the scope of responsibilities of his office. He is the 27th Sheriff to serve Lafayette and has served in that capacity since January 2016.



A native of Iota, Sheriff Garber graduated from LSU-BR and SMU Law School in Dallas. While in undergrad school, he worked with the Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office as a dispatcher before moving up to corrections. He then worked as a game warden with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.



Sheriff Garber joined the City of Arlington, TX Police Department where he spent ten years, being chosen for the prestigious motorcycle unit. He also gained enforcement experience in patrol, traffic enforcement, field training, police sniper, and SWAT (Special Operations).



It was while Sheriff Garber worked in Arlington that he realized he wanted a Ph.D. level education and pursued law studies. He jokingly recalled if he knew how hard it would be to juggle so many responsibilities he may not have chosen law school; but he did well and looked at each law course as a financial investment as he had to put himself through school, not qualifying for assistance due to his income as a police officer.



Sheriff Garber next served in the U. S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations as a Civilian Special Agent, Criminal Investigator in Iraq, earning a Bronze Star Medal for his actions. His time in Iraq included deployment as a Battlefield Interrogator which put him in the war zone alongside frontline shooters. He recounted that he spent several tough weeks at Fort Huachuca in Arizona learning prescribed interrogation techniques and was able to meld them with his own experiences and talents from serving in law enforcement.




On his service in Iraq, Sheriff Mark Garber said, "Your perspective changes when you work with people who are getting killed. You want to survive and you want to protect each other. That's what the goal is. But I never saw circumstances where torture would produce reliable information to give to a ground commander that could be trusted. I preferred other methods. My role was to give advice and to get senior leadership of al-Qaeda taken out."




Upon returning to the U. S. Sheriff Garber continued service with the U. S. Secret Service, then returned to Lafayette where he served as an Assistant DA prosecuting felonies for the 15th JDC before being elected in 2015 to serve as Sheriff. This year, in 2022, Sheriff Garber became an FBI National Academy Graduate.



Lafayette's Sheriff is the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the Parish under the Louisiana Constitution. The Sheriff shares jurisdictions with the other cities' police departments (Broussard, Carencro, Duson, Lafayette, Scott, Youngsville.) Its Narcotics Division works extensively with the Lafayette City Police Department. When needed, the other police departments call upon the Sheriff for assistance and resources.




"What are our core functions to serve the community? We incarcerate people. We investigate crimes. We answer calls for service. These are the three pillars of our service that directly influence and affect safety. Safety is our basic need and you can't engage in commerce or education until you are secure. That's our #1 concern."




When Sheriff Garber took office in 2016, there were 900 prisoners being housed in the downtown Jail, a facility designed to hold about 300. "People were sleeping in unsecured common areas. The overcrowding led to health issues and staff morale was low. Garber implemented strict protocols to turn around the situation and improve safety for all. Today the jail holds approximately 600 prisoners and the Sheriff's Annex can hold about 150 individuals....