Experience you can trust,
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Community Policing

Pearl River is less than four square miles, and the strongest crime-deterrence tool we have is visibility. Unmarked and “ghost” cars don't deter crime because people don't see them. Marked units with big reflective lettering do, and the moment an officer is visible, deterrence begins.

But that presence has to be where people live. Our patrols belong in the neighborhoods, on the streets where our families live, learning people by name, not parked on Highway 41 or I-59 waiting for a traffic stop. The research is clear: a review of hot-spot policing studies found violence fell about 24% where officers concentrated their presence in the neighborhoods that needed it, and Philadelphia's foot-patrol experiment cut violent crime 23% in the areas that got the extra patrol. By putting our officers where families actually live, we cut opportunities for crime and build trust before it's ever needed.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

24/7 Coverage

When you call for help, someone should be there to answer, at two in the morning just as surely as two in the afternoon. Pearl River's police budget for 2026 is more than $2.2 million, including $985,818 for officer salary and overtime, yet the department reportedly can't keep three officers on duty at all times. For a town less than four square miles, with a budget that size, that should be an easy standard to meet.

So here is my commitment, plain and simple: three officers on duty, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No gaps, no stretches where a call goes unanswered or the nearest officer is far away. I'll build the staffing and scheduling to guarantee it, so our own officers cover Pearl River around the clock, every day of the year.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

The Budget

You pay for your police department, so you deserve to see exactly where the money goes. Pearl River's police budget for 2026 is $2,235,383. Here it is, straight from the adopted budget, with nothing hidden.

Where it comes from

• Police sales tax (1 cent)$1,200,000
• Transfer from general fund$620,000
• School board (school officer & crossing guard)$313,857
• DWI, forfeiture & other income$82,200
• Draw from police fund reserve$19,326
• Total$2,235,383

Where it goes: salaries & benefits (70%)

• Officer salary & overtime$985,818
• Municipal police retirement$225,000
• Health & life insurance$155,000
• Payroll taxes$76,000
• Police chief salary$48,000
• Workers' comp$48,000
• Other retirement$18,444
• Total salaries & benefits$1,556,262

Where it goes: everything else (30%)

• Vehicles (lease allocation)$120,000
• Liability & auto insurance$105,000
• Computer expenses$90,500
• Gas & oil$60,000
• Capital expenditures$50,000
• Outside dispatch (STPSO)$49,000
• All other operating costs$204,621
• Total operations$679,121

The math is simple. With more than $985,000 budgeted for officer salary and overtime, keeping three officers on duty around the clock is well within reach. You are paying for a fully staffed department, and you deserve to get one.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Reserve Officer Program

I started my own career as a reserve officer right here in Pearl River, and I later commanded the reserve division at the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, overseeing more than 65 reserve deputies. I know firsthand what a well-run reserve program can do for a small department.

Reserves are trained, vetted volunteers who serve alongside our full-time officers, adding manpower for patrols, community events, and emergencies without adding much to the budget. For a department our size, that is a force multiplier we can't afford to ignore. Our reserve division already serves Pearl River well, and it deserves the right support. I'll make sure our reserves have the equipment and training they need to keep doing that, strengthening our coverage and deepening the bond between the department and the community it serves.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

SWAT

I spent two decades on the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's SWAT team, so I know firsthand what it takes to run one, and I can tell you Pearl River does not need its own. With 7 people in administration, 4 school resource officers, and only 11 patrol officers, there is no way to maintain the around-the-clock readiness a real SWAT team demands. For a department our size, standing one up would be a waste of taxpayer money.

And we don't need to. Both Slidell Police Chief Tommy Williams and St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Bret Ibert have committed that their SWAT teams are available to the citizens of Pearl River 24 hours a day. Those are fully trained, fully equipped tactical teams, ready the moment we call.

What our officers need to do is secure the scene and keep everyone safe until SWAT arrives, and I will make sure they are trained and equipped to do exactly that. I am 100% behind advanced training for our officers and patrol rifles in our units, so that in the first critical minutes, our officers can protect this community with confidence.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

School Resource Officers

Nothing we do matters more than protecting our kids. Pearl River has four school resource officers, and the school board reimburses the town $313,857 a year for those officers, a car, and a crossing guard. That is a serious investment in our children, and it deserves serious officers.

Being an SRO is a real specialty with real standards, and those standards are the law. Louisiana law (R.S. 17:416.19) requires every school resource officer to be a peace officer certified through a nationally accredited SRO program or a state SRO training program approved by the POST Council. Louisiana's POST standards add that an SRO must be a POST-certified officer in good standing with at least two years of law enforcement experience and formal SRO basic training. The national standard, set by the National Association of School Resource Officers, is a dedicated 40-hour course that trains an officer to be far more than a guard at the door: a mentor, an educator, and the reason a kid grows up trusting the police. And every SRO answers to both the department's policies and the St. Tammany Parish School Board's.

I know some people in Pearl River doubt whether our officers are qualified to work in our schools. As Chief, I will remove that doubt. Every officer I assign to a school will meet or exceed those state and national standards, will want to be there, and will be trained in tactical response to school violence, training I have completed myself. And I will gladly show any parent the proof.

Here is the honest challenge: you don't find SROs, you grow them, and that is not easy. It takes at least two and a half years to develop a truly qualified and certified SRO. Walk the timeline with me. A brand-new hire must first complete the POST academy: a minimum of 496 hours of training that typically takes three to four months full time, it is subject to class availability, and state law requires certification within the first year of employment, so in practice much of that first year is spent just becoming a certified officer. Only then does the clock start on the two years of law enforcement experience the SRO standards require, plus the SRO training course itself. Add it up, and a new hire is realistically two and a half to three years away from being qualified to serve in a school. That is why the pipeline has to be running before a vacancy ever happens, not after.

My solution is to build the bench before it is needed. Our experienced patrol officers already have the years of service behind them; for the ones with a heart for kids, the state's SRO course is measured in days, not years, and I will send them before a seat ever opens. Add succession planning, with every handoff overlapped, and our schools never start a year uncovered or with a stranger. And if a seat ever opens faster than the bench can fill it, there are seasoned, POST-certified veterans in this parish who may wish to answer the call for our kids, and the law allows exactly that.

Our schools will always get the best we have.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Training

Advanced training prevents avoidable mistakes. It teaches officers how to handle situations safely, correctly, and within the law, which reduces complaints, reduces liability, and protects both the public and our officers. And when an officer does struggle, the honest first question is whether the department gave them the training and resources they needed to succeed. Too often the answer is no, and it isn't fair to set an officer up to fail and then blame them for the outcome.

Better training doesn't have to break the budget. The 2026 budget sets aside $30,445 for ammunition and training, and by partnering with neighboring departments on joint training, both classroom and operational, we make every one of those dollars go further, which lowers the price for every department involved and lets each dollar reach more officers. Shared training also builds the cooperation and consistency that make all of our agencies stronger.

I've already been in contact with neighboring departments about doing exactly this, so we can raise standards together from day one while cutting the cost for both sides.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Lawsuits

For a department of just 22 employees, Pearl River has seen more than its share of lawsuits and legal claims over the years. Even a handful is a lot for a town our size, and every one of them is paid for by the taxpayers. The 2026 budget already sets aside $105,000 for police liability and full-coverage insurance, and every avoidable claim we prevent protects that money and the taxpayers behind it.

In my opinion, much of this traces back to two root causes. The first is gaps in officer knowledge and training: when officers aren't fully trained, properly certified, and clear on the law, avoidable mistakes happen, and those mistakes turn into claims. The second is a failure to follow the rules and be held to them. Actions have consequences, and officers who cut corners or break the rules have to be held accountable, every time. Research on policing consistently finds that a small share of officers generate most complaints, which is exactly why better training, clear standards, and real accountability pay off, rather than the citizens paying settlements.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Transparency & Accountability

My private line and email are the fastest way to reach me, and I'm the only one who answers. Ask a question, send a text, or set up a meeting anytime. I can't promise you'll always like my answer, but I can promise it will be honest. And if you can't reach me right away, leave a message. I return every call and text.

Tap to show my number & email

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Fair Treatment & Fair Enforcement

The law doesn't care what your last name is, who you know, how much money you make, or what you look like. Neither should the officer enforcing it. In a town our size everyone knows everyone, and that can never mean favors for some and a hard time for others. One standard, applied the same way, to every person, every stop, every call.

I have been part of this community a long time, and I have always treated people with respect. Ask anyone who knows me. And anyone who wears a badge for me will treat people the same way: the same rules on Highway 41 as on Pine Street, the same respect for a lifelong resident as for someone just passing through.

If you ever believe our department treated you unfairly, call my direct line and tell me. I will look into it personally, and if we got it wrong, we will own it and make it right. I will find exactly where the failure happened, whether it was a training gap, a policy that wasn't followed, a procedure that needs fixing, or simple disrespect that calls for discipline. I will correct it so it is not repeated, and every officer in the department will learn from it.

Disrespect to the public WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Rumors

In Pearl River, a town of four square miles, rumors travel faster than a patrol car, and election season only speeds them up. Some of what you'll hear about me will be true, some will be half true, and some will be flat made up.

In emergency management we call this rumor control: when bad information can hurt people, you put the facts out fast and in plain language. A campaign deserves the same standard. So here is mine. If you hear something about me that makes you wonder, don't settle for the rumor. Call my direct line or stop me around town and ask. If it's true, I'll own it, and explain my thinking. If it's false, I'll show you the facts, or explain why the rumor is FALSE. And where there's paperwork, I'll show you that too.

Heard a rumor? Tap and ask me

And when a rumor starts making the rounds, I'll answer it right here on this page, so everyone gets the same straight answer.

The Rumor List

Rumor #1: "He's going to fire everyone."

FALSE. Here is the truth. I have no plan and no desire to clean house. My plan is to evaluate everything, and learn the “rest of the story,” before making any decisions. Training a police officer costs real money, and every trained officer on our roster represents years of taxpayer investment. Firing people throws that investment away. When an officer needs correcting, re-training is almost always the better option when that option is available, and that is exactly what my platform is built on: train them, equip them, and never set them up to fail. I have known some of these officers for over 30 years. Ask them if they believe I would do something like firing everyone.

And besides, you can't fire everyone. Who would work the night shift?

Rumor #2: "He hasn't lived in the town limits for a year."

FALSE. Samantha and I are from Pearl River. Our family is here, and so are many lifelong friends you can ask. No, we have not always lived inside the “Town Limits,” same as most people from Pearl River. We bought the old Bonnet house in 2024 and worked on it for nine months, painting and fixing. We moved into the house in June 2025, which more than meets the time requirement to run for Police Chief. This timeline is verifiable, just ask any of our neighbors. References provided upon request.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Public Records

Louisiana's Public Records Law (La. R.S. 44:1 et seq.) states that public records are the people's records. Agencies are custodians - not gatekeepers. Access should be simple, timely, and transparent. When records are public, the process to obtain them must honor that fact, not complicate it. It's not real complicated.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Senior Safety

Our seniors are some of the most trusting, and most targeted, people in town. Every year, criminals rob older residents through phone scams, fake charities, and fraud that never requires setting foot in Pearl River. I want a department that helps protect them from it.

That means officers who check in on our older neighbors, especially those living alone, and officers who go to the senior center in person to teach short, plain-spoken classes on the scams making the rounds and exactly what to watch out for. Those classes, led by our own officers and outside scam investigators when it helps, do double duty: seniors learn what to watch for, and our officers get to know the seniors they serve, so the two are on a first-name basis long before anyone ever needs to call for help. A warning you hear face to face from an officer you know sticks far better than a flyer in the mail. It costs almost nothing, and for the family whose parent didn't get taken, it means everything.

Steven Ball, Candidate for Police Chief, Pearl River, Louisiana

Coming Soon

More priorities are on the way. Check back soon.