ST. MARTIN PARISH, La. (KLFY)- The St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office has become the first law enforcement agency in Acadiana to certified in the ‘Cops and Cribs’ program, a program aimed at saving infant lives through safe sleep education.

Deputies with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office participated in one hour of training with Gulf Coast Forensic Solutions and the Acadiana Safe Sleep Taskforce. The training focused on teaching officers how to recognize unsafe sleep environments. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, Louisiana has one of the highest rates of sleep-related infant deaths in the United States.

The St. Martin Parish Sheriff, Becket Breaux, said this training is important for the community and neighboring areas.

“Ranking number one in the region, for kids in crib deaths, it’s important to us because the kids don’t have an opportunity to help themselves,” Breaux said.

Sheriff Breaux said deputies are being trained to educate parents on safe sleep habits during calls, helping prevent situations where infants could accidentally suffocate.

“We want to educate our deputies so when they respond to a house, they’re able to tell the parents, this is safer if you put the kid this way or talking about instances where the kid could smother or where something bad could really happen to that child,” said Breaux. “We want to prevent that.”

In addition, deputies are looking to host trainings for infant safety at future public gatherings. Breaux shared how he hopes other agencies will follow their lead to help reduce infant deaths in the state.

“We need to train all law enforcement,” said Breaux. “You talking about one hour being taken out their schedule to learn about saving your baby’s life, we’re an example for others to follow and that’s what I want this agency to be, I want to be the best and I want it to be an example for others to follow.”

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