Violations sagging in war on pants

The saggy pants ordinance was made official last June, however, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office hasn’t reported any citations as of Jan. 1.

Councilman Lindel Toups, who authored the ordinance, said he intends to ask the sheriff’s office and the Lafourche Parish District Attorney’s Office to begin acting on the ordinance.

“I haven’t brought it up yet, but the new council has taken over and I plan to put it on the agenda,” Toups said prior to the Jan. 8 meeting.

Since Lafourche adopted the ordinance, Toups has closely watched as other parishes have modeled similar laws. Other communities recently enacting “saggy pants” ordinances include Rapides, Delcambre and Vermillion parishes and the cities of Duson and Shreveport.

Lafourche was the first parish to pass the law, but wasn’t the first one to enact it. Delcambre Parish lawmen and authorities in Atlanta, Ga., were the first to cite violators.

Every community is following essentially the same guidelines for the saggy pants law, Toups said. Penalties, however, do vary.

Delcambre Parish has the toughest penalties on the books, he said. Violators face a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $500 fine. In Lafourche, the penalties are much lighter – $50 for the first offense and $100 for the second. The third offense carries a $100 fine and 16 hours of community service.

The most recent “saggy pants” law went into effect in December in Duson, La. According to Duson Police, the community has compiled with the ordinance.

“We did have a problem at first, but as soon as the people knew we were serious, it wasn’t a problem anymore,” said Police Chief Joseph Johnfore.

The police chief said he believes people in his area are obeying the ordinance because it was made into law within the city.

“The people started to see the fad get passed down to elementary school-aged children and we knew we had to put a stop to it,” Johnfore said.

Instead of adopting the indecent exposure law similar to the one listed in the state statue, Duson has a saggy pants law that makes saggy pants an offense even if the wearer’s shirt covers his or her undergarments.

“We’re tackling saggy pants and not the intentional exposure of underwear, which is in the indecent exposure act,” the police chief said.

Johnfore advocates the law to others with a saggy pants issue.

“If people are having a problem with it then it’s a good idea to pass the ordinance for one or two reasons: moral standards and self-respect,” Johnfore said.

“Older people feel insulted by children walking around exposing their underwear. And for young people, it’s a question of pride and dignity. You’re following a fad for whatever reason; fads die out,” he noted.

But until the fad dies locally, Toups wants authorities in Lafourche Parish to step up enforcement.

“I feel that we have to make a move on it because other people are following our footsteps,” he said. “I mean it’s on our books and I saw in the paper where they [the police] say it can’t be enforced, but I don’t buy that. I think we need to send a letter to the sheriff’s department and say they need to enforce it.”

Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said, however, the law is enforceable and that his deputies have been prompted to enforce the ordinance if they deem it necessary.

“If someone is cited for baggy pants, it will be cited with other violations,” Weber said. “Officers won’t just cite them specifically for the baggy pants unless there is a reoccurring problem with it.”