HOPEFULS POINT TO DRUG PROBLEM

Six Vying To Be Chief Of Police In Grand Isle

Former police and military officers as well as a political veteran are
among the five challengers who will face Grand Isle Police Chief Edward
"Eddie" Bradberry in the March 9 election for the island's top law
enforcement position.

Taking on the one-term Bradberry are Ray Anthony Arabie, Laine P. Landry
Sr., Irvin L. "Irv" Magri Jr., Euris "Doobie" Dubois and Robert "Turc"
Armand Jr.

The Grand Isle police force has five officers.

Bradberry did not respond to requests for information about his campaign.
When he first ran for the office, however, Bradberry said he would provide
a fresh outlook as chief of police and that he hoped to build respect for
the law among the town's young people.

His term included a high-profile incident last year when a police officer
killed a man who the officer said was attempting to run over him with a
truck. The case is under investigation by the state attorney general, said
Kris Wartelle, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

The case is expected to be presented to a Jefferson Parish grand jury in
late April or early May, Wartelle said.

Bradberry has declined to comment on the shooting on the advice of the town
attorney. He has been unavailable to comment on other criminal matters as
well. He also has been criticized by opponents for frequent absences from town.

Ray Arabie

Arabie is making his second bid for chief of police. A retired Army police
officer and former garbage truck operator, he said he wants to rid the
island of drugs and hire more "mature" police officers, a stab at the
town's current force, whose officers are all under 25 years old.

Police need more training, Arabie said. "They're not very polite and
courteous, either," he said.

Arabie, 53, pledged to be at Grand Isle "seven days a week," and he said he
would try to get state and federal money to hire more officers and to
create a drug task force to track down the source of drugs in the town.

Arabie has a GED certificate from West Jefferson High School and attended
the University of Texas, Texas Community College and Big Bend Community
College. He's currently unemployed.

He said he has been arrested once on an attachment for failing to show up
in juvenile court with his son. He said the charge was dropped when the
court date was reset.

Laine Landry

Landry, 37, also wants to fight drugs. The town has a problem with illegal
prescription drugs as well as common street drugs, he said.

Landry said he would have one officer trained as a detective, and he would
revive the local Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, program at Grand
Isle High School.

With Grand Isle police teaching the program, "we can get some continuity
between the children and young adults again," he said.

An oil field service company owner, Landry said he would raise the
professionalism of the police force and require training in ethics.

He said he would make some personnel changes if elected chief, but leave
the force at five officers.

Landry was a Grand Isle police officer for 10 years, has been president of
the Grand Isle Volunteer Fire Department since 1981 and is a charter member
of the town ambulance service.

He said he was arrested as a juvenile for simple burglary and sexual
battery, but charges were never filed.

Irvin L. "Irv" Magri Jr.

Magri said he will bring professionalism and accountability to the department.

A 39-year veteran of police and detective work who served briefly as the
island's assistant police chief, Magri founded the Police Association of
New Orleans, the first police union in the state, and has a degree in
criminology from Loyola University. He also attended Southern University at
New Orleans.

Magri is chairman of the state Board of Pardons, but said he would resign
that position if he is elected police chief.

His high-profile career included hosting a radio show about police work in
the 1960s and '70s and heading security at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

He made headlines when he was fired in 1974 by former New Orleans Police
Superintendent Clarence Giarusso for insubordination, but he was reinstated
as part of an out-of-court settlement. Also as part of the settlement, he
immediately resigned after 10 years with the NOPD.

Magri ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Jefferson Parish in 1975 and for
the Jefferson Parish School Board in 1980.

He said he'd require officers to keep a record of their daily activities.
He also pledged to personally teach a DARE program until an officer is
trained to do it, and to be accessible to the public.

Euris "Doobie" Dubois

Dubois, a town councilman, said he would attack the drug problem on Grand Isle.

While Dubois, 55, said he thinks the size of the paid force is appropriate
for the island, he said he would form an auxiliary police force of
volunteers ages 16 to 18 who would not carry weapons but who would attend
events. They would be "a police presence" to help keep events peaceful, he
said.

He declined to say what his first act as chief would be, but added that he
would replace two officers he believes show favoritism. He did not identify
the officers. Dubois, a commercial fisherman and former Lafourche Parish
water patrol, traffic and undercover narcotics officer, said he would deal
with problems more openly than the current chief and start a drug education
program at the school.

Dubois said he was arrested for public intimidation following an incident
last year involving Grand Isle police. He said he didn't intimidate the
officers, and that the charges were dismissed.

Robert "Turc" Armand Jr.

Armand did not respond to requests for information.