By Pat Culverhouse
Two Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office narcotics officers have been elected to lead Region 1 of the Louisiana Narcotics Officers’ Association, an organization with more than 400 members statewide.
Capt. Bobby Igo III, head of the WPSO narcotics unit, has been named president of Region 1 which includes nine parishes in northwest Louisiana. Det. Sgt. Shawn Jenkins, a member of Igo’s unit currently under assignment to a federal task force, has been named Sergeant At Arms.
The LNOA has seven regions in the state. Parishes in Region 1 are Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Bienville, Red River, DeSoto, Natchitoches and Sabine.
Igo has been with the WPSO since 2005, working his way through the ranks from dispatch to patrol and then to the street crimes unit. In 2011, he became a detective focusing primarily on narcotics and became head of the narcotics unit in 2019.
Igo’s duties as president include planning and executing quarterly training sessions where the more than 30 Region 1 agents gather to discuss cases and exchange ideas and investigative techniques. Another critical role of the president is to obtain sponsorships to fund LNAO training programs.
Jenkins, a 14-year law enforcement officer whose expertise in narcotics investigations has led to awards from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), has been with the Sheriff’s Office for eight years after serving six years at the Minden Police Department. For the past six months, Jenkins has been assigned to the DEA’s regional task force.
Jenkins has already received a DEA Certificate of Appreciation which outlined his professionalism and spirit of cooperation as “…an extremely effective tool when attacking drug trafficking organizations.”
Igo said having Jenkins on the DEA task force gives the WPSO narcotics unit more resources and abilities through networking. The task force focus includes a multi-parish area from Alexandria to Ruston, and that extends the reach of investigations, he added.
“We work hand-in-hand every day to further our investigations,” Igo said. “He’s with the task force, but he’s a working member of our team. I’m glad to have him on our side.”
Igo said he, Jenkins and Sgt. Josh McCormick compose the WPSO narcotics unit.
“That’s exactly what we are, we’re a unit…a team that works extremely well together,” Igo said. “With Shawn over at DEA as part of the task force it gives us more resources, different abilities to advance investigations through our networking.”
Igo refers to service in narcotics investigations and enforcement as “…a calling. I feel like we do a lot of good. Knowing you can help somebody or a family going through something like that is why we do what we do. I feel like we’re helping more people.”
Roughly 90 percent of all wrongdoing has ties to narcotics, Igo said.
“It’s evil. Our focus is on dealers. If you’re selling drugs, we’re coming for you. If you need help, we’re here for you,” he said. “It is really more satisfying to rehabilitate individuals. Users have fallen down a bad path but the dealer’s putting it out there.”
Igo said he gets satisfaction from conversations with individuals who have changed their lives after their brush with narcotics officers.
“When you see someone on the street that at first was mad at you for arresting them, then later on they’re saying ‘Hey, you saved my life,’ it feels good,” he said. “We don’t look at like we’re saving their life, but it’s great to have that conversation with an individual who says you really helped. Even though they hated me at first.”
Even when investigations turn into arrests, Igo said he and his team members try to remember to treat people as they would want to be treated.
“Everybody is a person and people make mistakes,” he said. “You can’t judge that person because they made a mistake. As a unit, we try to treat people with respect as it is given. Nine times out ten, it comes back to you tenfold.”