[StBernard] St. Bernard sheriff's dispatcher alerted drug suspect of investigation

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard sheriff's dispatcher alerted drug suspect of investigation
by Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
Monday March 03, 2008, 12:10 PM
A dispatcher for the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office has been booked
with malfeasance in office for allegedly notifying a suspect in a drug
investigation that authorities were possibly targeting the suspect,
authorities said.

Wendy Reames, 24, of Lutcher, was arrested Friday. Reames, who had worked
for the sheriff's communications division for 13 months, was also fired, the
Sheriff's Office said in a news release.




According to the news release, narcotics agents were conducting surveillance
on a suspect when Reames allegedly sent a text message warning the suspect
about the investigation.

The Sheriff's Office has not named the suspect, citing the ongoing
investigation. Nor did the sheriff's news release say specifically how
agents determined the text message had come from Reames.

"This type of activity on the part of an employee of this Sheriff's Office
will not be tolerated,'' St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens said. "The
action of this former employee not only endangered the success of this
narcotics investigation and the safety of the dedicated agents working the
case, but it also violated the trust bestowed upon us by the community to
enforce the law impartially and keep St. Bernard Parish safe.''