Captain Darryl Armentor, M.S.
MSAR Commander
JTF7 Manager
8686 General Chennault Dr
Baton Rouge, LA 70807
Phone: (225) 389-4608
Email: MSAR

Captain Darryl Armentor began his career in law enforcement as a Reserve Deputy with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office in 1993. The following year, he joined the Baton Rouge Police Department as a full-time police officer. After serving with BRPD for nine years in Uniform Patrol, Detectives, and Crime Analysis, Captain Armentor returned to EBRSO in 2003. Since joining EBRSO, Captain Armentor has served as a detective, Commander of Computer Operations and Crime Analysis, LSP liaison, FBI-JTTF, and a POST Certified Firearms Instructor.  Captain Armentor's part-time responsibilities included seven years as a SWAT Entry Operator and Element Leader.
 

Captain Armentor currently serves as Commander of the Marine Search & Rescue Division. In this capacity, he is a Boat Coxswain, Certified Public Safety Diver, Certified Rescue Swimmer, and the Administrator for the Joint Terrorism Task Force 7 (JTF7). Captain Armentor has over 15 years experience in maritime law enforcement and port security. He holds a US Coast Guard Captain's License, has completed courses in Urban Search and Rescue, Port Security Tactics, Industrial Diving, and SONAR operations among others. Additionally, Captain Armentor is certified as a boating instructor by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. Captain Armentor holds a Master of Science Degree in Finance from LSU and is a reservist with the US Coast Guard.

Marine Search & Rescue Division (MSAR)
The mission of the Marine Search and Rescue Division (MSAR) is to provide a safe marine environment for the public in and around East Baton Rouge Parish. A safe marine environment includes the security of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, safety of the marine professionals working in the Port environment, and responsible recreational boating. Since EBR Parish encompasses 40 miles of the Mississippi River and is bordered by rivers on three sides, EBRSO must have full capabilities in security of a commercial port, search and rescue, dive-recovery, and recreational boating law enforcement. MSAR addresses these needs with full-time deputies assigned to MSAR, full-time deputies with part-time MSAR responsibilities, and reserve deputies assigned to MSAR. Whether reserve, part-time, or full-time, MSAR deputies complete the equivalent training programs for their specialty and perform the same missions.

Marine Patrol: EBRSO deputies conduct general maritime law enforcement patrol and rescue operations.

Search & Rescue: MSAR deputies respond to emergency situations on the water such as persons over-board boats and drownings. MSAR deputies are trained in rescue techniques and search patterns. In addition, MSAR is assigned specialized night vision and thermal equipment which enhances its ability to search for persons in the water.

Dive-Rescue Team: The Dive Team is an element of MSAR and consists of 10 certified divers. EBRSO divers train according to NAUI standards and are certified as Public Safety Divers by NAUI. EBRSO Divers possess multiple dive certifications including Open Water, Public Safety Diver, Rescue Diver, Advanced Diver, Industrial Diver, Dive Master, and Dive Instructor. The Dive Team operates sophisticated dive equipment including, Full-Face SCUBA with both OTS Guardian and Interspiro Divator full-face masks, and Kirby-Morgan helmet with surface supplied air. The Dive Team has completed a wide variety of missions including person-in-water rescue/recovery, evidence recovery, searching sunken vessels, ship hull scans, vehicle recovery, and numerous other law enforcement related operations.

Sonar Operations: EBRSO possesses three sonar systems including Marine Sonic Side Scan Sonar and Coda Octopus Underwater Inspection System. These systems are used to conduct a variety of underwater scan operations.

Joint Task Force 7
East Baton Rouge Parish is within a major port of national significance. The Port of Greater Baton Rouge is farthest inland “Deep Water Port” in the United States able to serve as a port facility to international ships. Thousands of tons of the nation’s products transit the Mississippi River through East Baton Rouge Parish in route to foreign countries. Numerous production and transportation facilities are located on the Mississippi River in the Baton Rouge area including ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, and other critical port facilities. Responsibility for protection of the nationally significant commercial interests along the Mississippi River is shared by the private facilities, the US Coast Guard, and the Sheriff’s along the Mississippi River corridor.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office takes its responsibility for maritime security seriously. In 2011, Sheriff Gautreaux entered into an agreement with the US Coast Guard and other Sheriff’s in the Baton Rouge area to enhance maritime security in this area.

JTF-7 is a special partnership between eight parish Sheriffs, the US Coast Guard, and other state, federal, and private partners within the Port of Greater Baton Rouge.

JTF7’s mission is to guard and protect our citizens and the valuable assets in and around the maritime community against any act of terrorism. The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office is the lead agency of JTF7. MSAR and SWAT-MARTAC serve as the representative components of EBRSO to JTF7. For more information, refer to the JTF7 website.

To accomplish the variety of maritime missions, MSAR manages numerous assets including:

• Sophisticated Night Vision, Thermal Imaging, and other electronic equipment.
• 32-foot Sea Ark Cabin Cruiser Patrol Boat, Miss Margery, equipped with full electronics, a high-power Xenon Search Light with Infra-red and FLIR capabilities. This boat is named in honor of the late wife of former Sheriff Elmer Litchfield.
• 27-foot Sea Ark Center Console Response Boat, Miss Suzy, equipped with full electronics. This boat is named in honor of Sheriff Sid Gautreaux’s wife.
• A 27-foot SAFE Boat equipped with full electronics and climate control.
• 6 rescue boats for emergency and flood response.
• Fully equipped dive trailer with specialized tow truck.
• Fully equipped Maritime Command Vehicle equipped with on-board generator and lighting.
• Numerous All-Terrain Vehicles for conducting high water rescues.
• Additional underwater electronics.

The EBRSO has conducted marine rescue and marine search and recovery operations throughout Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas. Operations have included responses to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustave, and Isaac plus other major maritime special events.

EBRSO has published a document, Underwater Recovery Operations for Law Enforcement: An Introduction to Theory, Equipment, and Procedures Using Side Scan Sonar, to assist other law enforcement agencies in using side scan sonar equipment. In addition to the above document, EBRSO has created and published a training presentation in the theoretical aspects and specific procedures of establishing search grids using Hypack Navigational software. The presentation is available free of charge at the following link: Hypack Presentation.