A $40,000 award from the Community Foundation of Acadiana, underwritten by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, to District Attorney Bo Duhé and the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will be the spark needed to ignite a technological revolution in Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary Parishes.

Duhé, whose office covers tens of thousands of residents across 3,000 square miles, said one of the biggest challenges his attorneys face is how to process the thousands of hours and pages of documentation that accompanies each case.

The Leaders in Law Enforcement Award is presented to District Attorney’s offices, Louisiana State Police Troops and Sheriff’s Offices that are making the most impact in their communities with the resources they have been allocated. Applications are evaluated on several factors, including:

– Program(s) implemented to increase public confidence in law enforcement

– Objective measures of year to year successes or improvements

– Programs making the justice system more accessible to and supportive of victims

– Efficient use of and accountability for tax dollars

– Progress in professional development of personnel and their retention

– Integration of new law enforcement and prosecution technology

– Efficient handling of natural disasters, terrorist activities or other situations requiring mass mobilization, coordination and management of resources

– Acts enhancing the reputation of Louisiana law enforcement.

The recognition also comes with a $40,000 award, which can be used for any purchase that helps the honorees to continue moving forward with the programming that was the basis for winning the award.

Duhé’s first step will be to purchase software and hardware that will allow data to be processed much quicker and stored conveniently in an encrypted cloud server. The upgrades will be a welcome improvement from the current system.

“Our Family Services, Juvenile Assessment Center and our Early Intervention Program have been keeping data in Excel spreadsheets,” Duhé said. “I’m also looking at some software that will help our prosecutors handle the digital evidence that we receive.”

According to Duhé, changes in how cases are handled in the criminal justice system have necessitated large numbers of digital files, which can be cumbersome to process on the office’s internal systems and can use up terabytes of data per case.

“It’s not really an issue of manpower anymore or having enough bodies in the courtroom, it’s about how we spend that time efficiently and effectively,” Duhé explained. “Nowadays, a simple car stop can have two or three body cameras on it. A homicide scene can have multiple body cameras, phone dumps, black boxes from cars and GPS data from cell phones. All that information needs to be synthesized, and you can get 10,000 to 100,000 pages of data from a phone dump. That data is, frankly, overwhelming, when you’re screening a case and trying to prepare for a trial.”

The emphasis on efficiency is part of what won Duhé’s office the award in the first place. According to the Community Foundation of Acadiana, the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office of Iberia, St. Martin, & St. Mary Parishes was being recognized for its “effective management of justice across the parishes they serve despite limited resources, in addition to excelling in collaboration with local law enforcement, efficient case management, comprehensive training, and reducing juvenile crime and truancy and their dedication to supporting crime victims and promoting community safety.”

Those limited resources come with the territory for Duhé, whose office doesn’t receive any tax funds directly. Instead, the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office receives funds from each of the three parish governments in which they serve, but Duhé said he is cognizant of how much his office is taking out of the parish coffers. The award will go a long way to easing the financial burden that comes with updating systems.

“We’re all struggling to find ways to pay for this kind of stuff,” he said. “A lot of the software is $90,000 per year, so you just can’t go into your couch and find that. I was having a discussion with my IT guy about adding servers and terabytes of hard drives for each of the three parishes. That’s going to cost $30,000 per office, so I’m right back at $90,000. Prosecution is a costly process, so anytime we can find funds, we’re going to try to take advantage of it.”

About Leaders in Law Enforcement Awards

The Leaders in Law Enforcement Awards, hosted by Community Foundation of Acadiana are designed to honor law enforcement departments that are making the most impact in their communities with the resources they have been allocated.

The 2025 application process will begin in January and run through March. All sheriff’s departments, district attorney’s offices, and Louisiana State Police troops/sections from around the state are invited and encouraged to apply. Applications can be found by visiting www.cfacadiana.org/leadersinlaw.

About Community Foundation of Acadiana

CFA is one of south Louisiana’s premier philanthropic organizations benefiting our region, with a focus on the parishes of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin and Vermilion. CFA’s core purpose is to build legacies and improve communities by connecting generous people to the causes they care about. Since its inception in 2000, CFA has realized cumulative gifts exceeding $336 million and has made cumulative grants of more than $174 million. You can learn more at www.cfacadiana.org.