Vidalia — Candidates for Concordia Parish sheriff said fighting drugs and making certain law enforcement officers operate as professionals are key components of the office they seek.

The two candidates — incumbent Sheriff Kenneth Hedrick and challenger Payne Scott — gave these answers at the Concordia Chamber of Commerce’s candidate forum Thursday.

When asked what a sheriff can do to make sure his deputies do their job correctly, Scott said the issue could be summed up in one word — “training.”

“If an officer is not trained, he is not professional and he does not know how to handle people,” Scott said.

He likewise said a correct part of doing their job is interacting with the public.

“You have got to get out there, talk to them and learn from them to know how they feel,” he said. “That way, when there is something bad going down, they are going to come to you.

“I believe in justice and justice for all, and I believe that is what my officers should do and will do.”

Hedrick agreed training is necessary, and said his office has its own training officer that trains not only local deputies but for other parishes as well.

When asked if body cameras are a good idea for deputies, Hedrick said he was the first law enforcement executive to institute their use when he was chief of police in Ferriday.

“I believe it helps us police officers and it helps our citizens,” Hedrick said. “If somebody has a complaint, an officer has that camera on and everybody keeps it straight.”

Scott said having cameras on officers would give him something to go by if there was a complaint.

“At that point in time, you can go back and see, yes, there was something wrong, and he will be disciplined and fired,” Scott said.

When they were asked what is the leading crime problem in the parish, both candidates said it was illegal narcotics.

“When you have drugs, you have robberies, rapes, burglaries, home invasions,” Hedrick said.

The sheriff’s office is working to train not only its narcotics officers but all its officers to stop the proliferation of drugs, he said, and the office has made more than 1,100 drug arrests since he took office.

Scott said drugs cause a “domino effect” of other crimes.

“A professional narcotics section is a must,” he said. “They should know about surveillance, search and seizure and undercover technologies. On those same lines, you need to put more patrol cars on the road. You put enough of them out there, (criminals) will never know when they are going to come again.”

When asked why he wanted the job, Scott alluded to a saying sometimes locally attributed to Paul Harvey that “if you want to commit murder, go to Concordia Parish.”

“I want to change that mindset,” he said. “I want people to feel safe and secure in their homes and on the highways. Your job is the well-being of the people of this parish, and whatever it takes you to do, you do.”

Hedrick said he wants to remain sheriff because he loves Concordia Parish.

“I want to protect the people of Concordia Parish,” he said. “Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, I am going to protect the people of Concordia Parish. That is my job, and I am proud of it.”

The election is Oct. 24.