Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office will train in old post office building in Abbeville

In the near future, there will be a few Sheriff’s Office patrol cars around the old post office in downtown Abbeville. Do not panic because it is only the Sheriff’s Office training in the old building.
Six years ago, Abbeville’s N. R. Broussard donated the old post office building to the public school system with hopes the school system could convert the building into something useful.
Former superintendent Jerome Puyau had hopes of updating the building and changing it into a virtual school. But because of the cost, that never happened. At one time, some school board members wanted to try and sell the building.
Since the donation by Broussard, the building has only been used by law enforcement training.
Now, the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office approached the school board and wants to use the building full-time to train its deputies.
Justin Merrit, the school board attorney, informed the board members at Thursday’s meeting of Sheriff Mike Couvillon’s plans.
Merrit told the board members that the Sheriff deputy’s training in the building would benefit the school system.
“It is an active shooter like training,” said Merrit. “They can make it look like a school. They can move walls around. It is a good use.”
The Sheriff’s Office will also pay the utility bills for the old post building, which has been paid for by the school board for the last six years. It will save the school board $11,000 a year.
The sheriff’s office will also have insurance in case an accident occurs while in the building.
The school board approved the agreement to let the sheriff’s office use the building.
The school board members also learned that if the school board wanted to sell the building, it would give the sheriff’s office a 90-day notice.
“Sheriff Couvillon would like to thank Superintendent Tommy Byler and the Vermilion Parish School Board for their assistance in the past use of the old Post Office, and the future agreement between his department and the School Board for its continued use,” said Captain Drew David
“Our SRT unit (Special Reaction Team) continually trains for the worst case scenarios. By having this building at our disposal it is allowing the SRT unit, along with the entire Sheriff’s Office more opportunities to train for Active Shooter situations in our schools, or within the parish,” said Captain David
“Our response to such situations, especially in our schools saves lives. We are in the process of building a shoot house which mimics hallway and classroom deployment. We are also building portable walls which will allow us to imitate the exact layout of school, rooms, buildings or houses. We can never allow ourselves to become complacent in the world today, especially when the safety of our children and teachers are at stake,” said Captain David.