Jack Strain in the dock

The Front Page: A suspect police force, a sheriff on trial and a killing on Paris Avenue

By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor

CAMPUS COPS: At the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, a blistering internal report on the campus police force flagged serious issues of incompetence and other improprieties, leading investigators to question the department’s ability to protect students. That was 16 months ago, but top LSU Health officials declined to follow the report’s recommendations to remove the police chief and two ranking members whose romantic relationship led to a wave of complaints.

The LSU official overseeing the police? That's former state Sen. Ed Murray, whose part-time job there pays him $240,000 a year.

SHERIFF ON TRIAL: The face that Jack Strain projected to St. Tammany Parish during his 20 years as sheriff, that of a tough-talking, steely-eyed lawman, remains familiar even six years after voters in the staunchly conservative parish denied him a sixth term in office. But when Strain goes to trial this week on eight counts of sex crimes with underage boys, prosecutors will strive to show the jury a different face, that of an almost lifelong predator who began abusing children when he was still a teenager.

ONCE TOO OFTEN: Neighbors say burglars repeatedly stole property from the house in the 2800 block of Paris Avenue and vehicles on the premises, and that the family living there had grown increasingly concerned. So they were not surprised when a man was shot dead outside the house before dawn Saturday.

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D.B.