The Sliman Theater was packed with people for the Iberia Parish sheriff candidates forum Tuesday.

The relationship of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office with New Iberia and the community at large saw the most discussion at a forum Tuesday among the five candidates vying to take, or keep, the helm of the law enforcement agency for the next four years.

Incumbent Sheriff Louis Ackal and challengers David “Spike” Boudoin, Roberta Boudreaux, Bobby Jackson and Joe LeBlanc each had their own takes on the Sheriff’s Office’s ongoing contract with New Iberia for law enforcement and the financial implications that came with it.

A full house packed the Sliman Theater for the first of three forums sponsored by the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Iberia and The Daily Iberian.

Ackal, a former Louisiana State Trooper who wraps up his second term as sheriff at the end of June, boasted the advances he’s brought to the office, including the creation of numerous specialty units and bringing the agency out of serious debt.

“One of the things that brought me back here as sheriff was too many people telling me they didn’t feel safe in their homes,” Ackal said.

With New Iberia contracting with the Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement, Ackal said the bulk of his calls come from within the city and cities of comparable size normally have budgets north of $11 million annually for their own agencies. He touted his fiscal responsibility for apparently managing New Iberia with a $6.3 million contract and being able to borrow $4.5 million when first taking office and maintaining a balanced budget to this day.

“Send them to my office so they can show me where I can cut,” Ackal said, referencing the other four candidates calling for budget cuts.

Boudoin, a former deputy with the Sheriff’s Office who also spent 16 years as a warrant officer for the 16th Judicial District, charged the biggest change the Sheriff’s Office needed to make was its attitude, starting from the top.

“Being proactive rather than reactive is my strong point,” Boudoin said.

Boudoin said, as a deputy, the Iberia Parish Jail was always a thorn in his side because there were times it was so over capacity that suspects he arrested were turned away. He said the Sheriff’s Office needed respectful leadership that followed strict budget guidelines and could potentially help bring back the New Iberia Police Department.

“You could use the funds appropriately and it’ll take care of itself,” Boudoin said, referencing the variety of taxes used to fund dedicated areas of the agency. “There’s wasteful spending going on in this department.”

Boudreaux, a former warden for the Parish Jail, called the New Iberia contract the “top elephant in the room” and said there was a serious disconnect between the Sheriff’s Office and the community.

“I think that we have issues with the department now where the light is being shined on us negatively,” she said. “I want to change that.”

Boudreaux, who studied criminal justice and psychology in college, said extensive training officewide would help deputies when dealing with inmates with mental health issues and streamlining administrative roles would free up money to help retain quality deputies. She emphasized unifying the agency with the community in moving forward.

“I think there comes a time where we should have dialogue and not monologue,” she said.

Jackson, a U.S. Army veteran who graduated from the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia, and now conducts background checks for U.S. Customs and Immigration and the Department of Defense, called himself a “numbers and facts guy” who doesn’t react to situations with emotions.

“I’m very well-tempered,” he said. “From what I’ve gathered, the current sheriff tends to react with emotion.”

Jackson said he agreed the agency’s department structure needed to be consolidated in an effort to reduce costs and said diversity was a common issue for the Sheriff’s Office brought up as he campaigned door-to-door.

“Either get the deputies to mirror the community or get the responding deputy to understand the problems of the community he’s dealing with,” he said.

LeBlanc, a former deputy who also worked drug enforcement for U.S. Customs, stressed the need for community policing in Iberia Parish rather than what he called overly aggressive policing.

“Everybody is not a criminal, but the last two administrations have treated everyone like they are,” he said. “I know I sound like a broken record, but if you can’t respect ‘protect and serve’ and get on with the next case, don’t put on that badge.”

LeBlanc, who is running for Sheriff for a sixth time, said treating inmates and suspects more humanely would ultimately benefit the agency and modernizing or privatizing the jail would only help save money on a building that was built without a funding structure.

“I can count on one hand how many times I threw someone to the ground — I never get to five — but I still did my job,” he said.

Some candidates traded barbs with Ackal throughout the debate. While discussing cost-saving measures, Boudreaux pointed out Ackal’s administration has settled more than $1 million in lawsuits and still had more pending. In a rebuttal, Ackal said an agency with 300-plus officers is bound to be sued and many lawsuits carried over from the prior administration.

“Including the warden then,” Ackal said, referencing Boudreaux, “who had 25 civil rights lawsuits filed in the Clerk of Court’s Office that I had to defend.”

On a question related to the agency’s perceived attitude toward minorities, Ackal speculated the question was related to the controversial investigation into the death of Victor White III — a black man arrested for apparent drug possession — while in custody in a patrol vehicle last year.

The incumbent said the local community was not “up in arms” about the death and he has made an effort to liaise deputies with the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter to improve community relations.

“It’s just that idiot from New Orleans who’s up in arms,” Ackal said, referring to the Rev. Raymond Brown, an activist who has interjected himself into the White case.