New afterhours surveillance program for St. Martin Parish businesses

ST. MARTIN PARISH, LA (KLFY) --- Business owners in St. Martin Parish now has a new way to make sure their companies remain safe during closing time. The St. Martin Parish Sheriff's office has a new premise protection program which allows companies to sign up for routine checkups from deputies with the help of a simple QR code and an app on your phone. A code is put on a business window for the sheriff to come by and search the property. Then they can report to the owner through the q-r code about anything they saw or did not see. Sheriff Becket Breaux says this allows for a more hands on protection from his deputies.

He said, "Ive always said. I want my deputies to be part of the community, not apart from and this I think, is only helpful to get them closer to the community."

Taylor Patin is the owner of "Intense hot rods" located in Cecilia. He talks about the convenience of the program for his shop.

"It works out well because you have a deputy that comes in all hours of the night and check in," said Patin. "When they check in on this. We get an email and it shows us all doors were locked, everything was secure. If there was an intruder or anything, it notifies me automatically."

State Senator Blake Miguez and Sheriff Breaux agree the presence of officers leads criminals to turn the other way allowing for a safe community for all.

"They (criminals) find out that this sheriff's serious, that we've got innovative programs here and St. Martin parish. If you see that cowboy hat coming and that sheriff lights, they mean business," said Miguez.

Sheriff Breaux says the company they use started a patent on the program.

"It's a great asset. The business owners so far love it. We're rolling it out and we're going to we're going to move forward."

If you are a business owner interested in signing up for the premise protection. Contact the sheriff's office to get started.