Steve Prator

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Stephen Wayne Prator, Sr.

Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Louisiana
In office
July 1, 2000 – March 1, 2024
Preceded by Donald E. Hathaway
Succeeded by John "Jay" Long (interim)

Henry Lee Whitehorn, Sr. (permanent)

Born September 25, 1951
Clarksville
Montgomery County
Tennessee
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Carolyn Craig Prator
Children Stephen Prator, Jr.

Jon Joseph Prator
Tracey Prator Cascio[1]
Parents:
Sheldon Perry and Margie Prator
Aunt:
Hazel Beard

Residence Shreveport, Louisiana
Alma mater Louisiana State University

FBI National Executive Institute

Occupation Law-enforcement officer since 1973
Religion Christian

Stephen Wayne Prator, Sr., known as Steve Prator (born September 25, 1951),[2] of Shreveport is the first Republican since Reconstruction to serve as sheriff of Caddo Parish in far northwestern Louisiana. He began his sixth term in the office in the summer of 2020. He stepped down four months early in his last term to accept a position from Governor Jeff Landry to serve on the Louisiana Board of Pardons.[3]

Background

The son of Sheldon (or Shelton) Perry Prator (1926–2001) and Margie Prator, Stephen Prator was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, but moved to Caddo Parish when he was seven years of age. His paternal roots are in Cass County in east Texas. His grandparents were Joseph Bell Prator (1893–1962) and the former Erne Ruth Simpson (1896–1990). He has a brother, David Perry Prator of Kingwood, Texas. He is married to the former Carolyn Craig. His children are Stephen Prator, Jr., Jon Joseph Prator, and Tracey Prator Cascio.[4] He was born in Clarksville in Montgomery County in northern Tennessee.[5]

Prator received a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University in the capital city of Baton Rouge.[6] He also graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Executive Institute in Quantico, Virginia. He attended basic police academy at LSU in Baton Rouge.[7]

Career

In 1973, Prator became a Shreveport police officer. In 1990, Hazel Beard, Steve Prator's aunt and the first of only three Republican mayors of Shreveport since Reconstruction, named Prator chief of police, an appointive position.[8] In 1999, he stepped down as police chief to run for sheriff, when the incumbent Donald Edgar "Don" Hathaway, Sr., did not seek a sixth four-year in office. Prator was elected to the first of his thus far four terms in that position. In that first campaign, Prator led with 37,739 votes (70.5 percent), compared to 13,858 (25.9 percent) for the Democrat Marshall W. Nelson, and 1,921 votes (3.6 percent) for the No-Party candidate, Robert N. Creamer.[9] Creamer again ran against Prator in 2003.[10]

Prator's term began on July 1, 2000, when Don Hathaway retired after twenty years as sheriff. Upon taking office, Prator streamlined certain operations and saved $3 million in expenses.[11] Prator introduced "community-oriented policing" and developed a network of volunteer programs. He opened the first centers to deal with juvenile truancy, including a temporary holding facility.[7] He supported the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in public schools, which Hathaway had first instituted in Shreveport.[12] Prator established bicycle patrols, neighborhood watch teams, and a drug interdiction unit. He developed a work-release program for inmates at the Caddo Correctional Center.[7]

Activities as sheriff

Prator is a member of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association, Cops for Christ, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.[7] He was named in 2008, along with his then colleague, Larry Deen, a former sheriff of Bossier Parish, to the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice, a multi-agency program.[13] Prator is active in the Louisiana State Fair Board, the LSUS Foundation, and the Norwela Council of the Boy Scouts of America.[5]

Prator was instrumental in the establishment in 2008 of "Safety Town" located between Walker Road and Jewella Avenue near the South Park Summer Grove Baptist Church. "Safety Town" teaches children how to avoid danger and how to protect their own safety. Robert Madison "Bob" Griffin, then of KTBS-TV, worked with Prator to promote the project.[14][15]

In 2014, Prator launched a program to train children between eight and twelve years of age in gun safety. The course is taught at a gun safety camp sponsored by the sheriff's department.[16]

In the election held on October 22, 2011, Prator defeated the Democratic candidate, Craig Smith, 37,799 (78.7 percent) to 10,216 (21.3 percent). Robert Creamer did not file for the position though he had indicated that he had planned to do so.[17]

On July 1, 2014, Prator took on the role of director of the Caddo Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, a state agency responsible for disaster and emergency preparedness and response efforts. Previously Caddo and Bossier parishes had operated a mutual Homeland Security office, but Bossier Parish elected to establish its own facility. The sheriff's office will fund the Homeland Security office for Caddo Parish.[18]

On October 24, 2015, Prator handily won a fifth term as sheriff in the primary election by defeating the Democrat Eric Hatfield, 37,112 votes (73.2 percent) to 13,561 (26.8 percent).[19]

On May 16, 2018, Prator presided over a public meeting to seek consensus on how to curb the rising crime rate in Shreveport. "We've got a lot of crime here. We've got a lot of violence here. And just because the numbers might be up or down a little bit, if you put them all together, this is a dangerous place, at times," Prator said.[20]

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 12, 2019. Prator led a four-candidate field with 39,140 votes (65 percent). He defeated two Democrats, George Eric Hatfield, who polled 12,724 votes (21 percent), and the African-American, Hersy Jones, Jr., who drew 6,887 votes (11 percent). A No Party candidate, Glen Cornell, ran fourth with 1,523 votes (3 percent).[21]

Disagreements with Governor Edwards

In 2017, Sheriff Prator opposed Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards's planned release of state prisoners, a move also endorsed by the Louisiana District Attorneys Association as well as bipartisan members of the legislature. Prator said that the release would increase violent crime in Caddo Parish. "I wasn't elected to rehabilitate people. There needs to be more done before this law takes effect," Prator said. The liberal New York Times accused the sheriff of racism because he also described certain state prisoners as "bad" and those in parish prisons as "good" because they often perform trusty-type roles. In addition to the parish prisoners, the Caddo Parish Correctional Center houses inmates for the Louisiana Department of Corrections.[22]

In August 2018, Prator again criticized Governor John Bel Edwards' early release of numerous state prisoners under the "Justice Reinvestment Program." According to Prator, several crimes that he considers violent are now classified as non-violent. He also objects to the reduction in penalties for several violent offenses, including "a home invasion with a weapon." What earlier meant a five-year minimum sentence regarding a home invasion, the Edwards changes allow a one-year minimum sentence, followed by the offer of probation to the offender.[23]

As the disagreement with Prator escalated, Edwards stopped the pending appointment of Mrs. Prator to a seat on the Red River Waterway board of commissioners formerly held by the late Rogers M. Prestridge of Shreveport.[24] On August 30, Prator again questioned Edwards' criminal justice policies in an appearance on The Moon Griffon Show, a statewide radio broadcast. Instead, Edwards appointed Mike Deville of Rapides Parish to fill the slot. U.S. Senator John Neely Kennedy has strongly defended Prator in the dispute with Edwards. Kennedy, a potential Republican opponent to Edwards in 2019, said that he believes Edwards rejected Carolyn Prator's appointment because of the sheriff's earlier criticism of the governor's justice reforms, bipartisan measures that Kennedy himself also opposes. Kennedy cited the African-American Democratic state Senator Greg Tarver of Shreveport, who was quoted in The Baton Rougee Advocate as having said that Edwards told him he blocked the nomination of Carolyn Prator because of her husband's opposition to the justice reforms.[25]

In 2022, Sheriff Prator killed a state program, known by the unusual name "Mister Coffee Bean," which is intended to train certain felons to teach elementary school upon their release from prison. Prator said that while he supports efforts to reduce recidivism in prison, the program could put children into danger and should not be pursued.[26]

Finding Prator's successor

Prator first announced that he would seek reelection to a seventh term as sheriff in the primary held on October 14, 2023; his term extends to July 1, 2024. However, he halted the reelection campaign because of a health scare involving a heart stent. He instead endorsed a fellow Republican, attorney and former Shreveport City Councilman John Christopher Nickelson (born September 28, 1979). Prator urges voters to back Nickelson to maintain the level of enforcing law and order and to manage the department on a fiscally sound basis.[27] Nickelson entered a November 18 runoff election against the African-American Democrat Henry Lee Whitehorn, Sr. (born September 30, 1954), a private security consultant and a former U.S. marshal. In the primary Nickelson finished with 45 percent to Whitehorn's 35 percent. Other candidates for sheriff eliminated in the primary were Republicans Shayne Gibson and Eric Hatfield and the Democrats Patricia "Pat" Gilley and Hersy Jones, Jr. If all the Republican voters had stuck together, Nickelson would have easily won win the second balloting.[28] However, Nickelson in a much lower turnout was defeated by Whitehorn by a single vote, 21,620 to 21,621.[29] Republican voters who sat out the runoff had only themselves to blame for Nickelson's defeat in an election with a turnout of only 28 percent. A recount on November 27 confirmed Whitehorn's one-vote margin.

Nickelson filed suit in the Caddo district court to seek another election. Judge Joe Bleich, a Democrat, ruled in Nickelson's favor by citing that eleven illegal voters were cast in the election. The state circuit court upheld Bleich's ruling. Whitehorn's subsequent appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court also failed. A second election will likely be held on March 23, 2024.[30]

The Louisiana Democrat Party chairman Katie Bernhardt rebuffed the need for a second election in the race, which she called a "threat to democracy" on the premise that two of the illegal voters were Republican officials backing Nickelson over Whitehorn. She likened the situation to the 2020 presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in which she claimed that the "Republicans don't like to accept when they have lost. Instead of following the will of the people, they simply use money and influence to attempt to overturn fair and lawful election results."[31]

Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Scott Jackson Crichton said that neither Nickelson or Whitehorn was at fault with the election outcome: "Ballots failing to comply with the signature requirements should have been disqualified, yet the trial court found five that were not. In an election separated by a single vote, this cannot be deemed harmless." Crichton added, "When a court is presented with proven errors, even when no candidate is responsible for those errors, it is compelled to act and uphold our Election Code." He cited the previous court ruling of Adkins v. Huckabay: “A tolerance of deviations from legal requirements could lead to a manipulation of elections and affect the integrity of an election and the sanctity of the ballot.” "In this case, a new election will ensure confidence in the final outcome."[32] Whitehorn won the rematch over Nickelson on March 23, 2024, with 21,147 votes (53 percent) to the Republican's 18,800 (47 percent). Voter turnout was 42.3 percent. Once again, many Caddo Republicans failed to show up to vote for their party nominee for sheriff.

References

  1. ↑ Stephen Prator. ussearch.com. Retrieved on May 23, 2012.
  2. ↑ Click Stephen Prator, September 1951. voterportal.sos.la.gov. Retrieved on February 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ Ian Robinson (March 1, 2024). John Long sworn in as interim Caddo Parish sheriff. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on March 2, 2024.
  4. ↑ Shelton Perry Prator. wadeprater.com. Retrieved on May 22, 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Louis R. Avallone, "This Month's Meeting". The Caddo Republican, Vol. 17, Edit. 4 (April 2012). Retrieved on May 22, 2012.
  6. ↑ Steve Prator in the U. S. School Yearbooks. search.ancestry.com. Retrieved on January 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Prator: Caddo Sheriff. steveprator.org. Retrieved on May 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ Caddo Sheriff Support. prator.org. Retrieved on May 23, 2012.
  9. ↑ Primary election returns, October 23, 1999. staticresults.sos.la.gov. Retrieved on May 23, 2012.
  10. ↑ Adam Duvernay, "Prator's 10th anniversary", The Shreveport Times, July 25, 2011.
  11. ↑ Eric Brock. About our Sheriffs. caddohistory.com. Retrieved on May 23, 2012.
  12. ↑ D.A.R.E.. caddosheriff.org. Retrieved on June 14, 2014.
  13. ↑ Governor Bobby Jindal Announces Appointments to the Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, March 4, 2008. gov.louisiana.gov. Retrieved on February 4, 2014.
  14. ↑ Sheriff's Safety Town - Shreveport. sheriffssafetytown.org. Retrieved on June 11, 2014.
  15. ↑ Bob Griffin. KTBS-TV. Retrieved on June 11, 2014.
  16. ↑ Annie Andersen (June 17, 2014). Sheriff's office teaches gun safety to young campers. KMSS-TV. Retrieved on June 20, 2014.
  17. ↑ Primary election returns. staticresults.sos.la.gov (October 22, 2011). Retrieved on May 23, 2012.
  18. ↑ Alexandria Burris (June 16, 2014). Steve Prator to lead new Homeland Security Office. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on June 17, 2014.
  19. ↑ Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 25, 2015.
  20. ↑ Sheriff Steve Prator says Shreveport is a dangerous place at times. KEEL Radio. Retrieved on May 16, 2018.
  21. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12, 2019.
  22. ↑ Caddo Sheriff Prator criticized for 'racist' remarks. The Shreveport Times (October 12, 2017). Retrieved on February 16, 2018.
  23. ↑ Sheriff Steve Prator highly critical of prison-reform efforts. KEEL Radio. Retrieved on August 22, 2018.
  24. ↑ John E. Settle, Jr. (August 16, 2018). Gov. Edwards plays politics to deny Caddo Parish a waterway commission seat. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on August 30, 2018.
  25. ↑ Greg Hilburn. Kennedy accuses Edwards of vendetta against Caddo sheriff. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on September 16, 2018.
  26. ↑ Makenzie Boucher (March 14, 2022). Louisiana wanted to make felons teachers. Here's how the Caddo sheriff helped end the program. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on March 17, 2022.
  27. ↑ Makenzie Boucher (July 16, 2023). Former City Councilman John Nickelson is running for Caddo Parish Sheriff. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on July 17, 2023.
  28. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 24, 2023.
  29. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 18, 2023.
  30. ↑ Shreveport attorney Royal Alexander analyzes La. Supreme Court’s decision to deny Whitehorn’s appeal. msn.com. Retrieved on December 30, 2023.
  31. ↑ Britteny Hazelton (December 31, 2023). Louisiana Democratic Party issues statement after Supreme Court denies appeal in Caddo sheriff case. KSLA (CBS) in Shreveport. Retrieved on January 1, 2024.
  32. ↑ New Caddo sheriff's election moves forward; La. Supreme Court doesn't hear appeal. KTBS-TV (ABC) in Shreveport (December 28, 2023). Retrieved on January 3, 2024.
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