Ferriday &8212; Sheriff Randy Maxwell hosted a gathering of various Louisiana law enforcement officers at the first Louisiana Peace Officer Standards and Training meeting in Concordia Parish at the parish community center on Tuesday.

Since Maxwell is Sheriff of Concordia Parish he was asked to chair the meeting.

&8220;Any time we can bring a statewide meeting to Concordia Parish it&8217;s a real good thing, and it&8217;s very exciting to finally host one in the parish,&8221; Maxwell said.

The job of the board is to regulate and certify the training for every branch of law enforcement in Louisiana, Maxwell said.

&8220;Every type of state law enforcement was represented here today, from different parish sheriff&8217;s offices to Louisiana game wardens,&8221; Maxwell said. &8220;It&8217;s an honor to serve in the POST program.&8221;

Among the new business discussed at the meeting was a motion to move the School Resource Officer program under POST jurisdiction.

In requiring the School Resource Officer program to be POST certified it makes them eligible to receive grants, Maxwell said.

Money from the grants will be used for basic and advanced training of officers working as security at state schools, he said.

Members of the board like Executive Director Michael Ranatza said they were glad Maxwell was taking such an active role in the program.

&8220;We&8217;re very thankful for his leadership,&8221; Ranatza said. &8220;Deciding to have this meeting here is an indication of how we feel about having him in this role on the board.&8221;

&8220;To have a sheriff like him who is pro-law enforcement and pro-training is great,&8221; Ranatza said.