In one of her last official acts with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office before leaving to begin work on Monday as an investigator with District Attorney Warren Montgomery’s office, Capt. Tommie Sorrell addressed the Bogalusa Chapter of AARP on Thursday.

Sorrell started work at the Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff Randy Seal on July 1, 2012. She supervised the Criminal Investigation Division. Her last day with the Sheriff’s Office was Friday.

“I always pride myself in going to where I can make the biggest impact,” Sorrell said prior to the AARP meeting. “I love my job. I enjoy what I’m doing. I’ve been in the Criminal Justice System for over 23 years. I’m just looking forward to continuing to serve the citizens of St. Tammany and Washington parishes and continuing to collaborate with law enforcement agencies in order to aid the DA’s Office to successfully prosecute offenders. I look forward to learning about the judicial end of it.”

Sorrell said she would be working Covington and Washington Parish, with the majority of the work in Washington Parish.

Seal said he hated to lose Sorrell’s expertise.

“When I came here, I wanted to put together the best team I could. I knew her reputation and work ethic,” Seal said. “I don’t want to have anybody nobody else wants. She is going to continue to be an asset with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office and other agencies in this parish. She was good. We’re real happy for her, but hated to lose her.”

“Washington Parish Chief Deputy Mike Haley said her decision to leave for the DA’s Office is a win-win situation for all concerned.

“Sheriff Seal and I have both discussed it,” Haley said. “We both have conflicted views. We regret very much losing her because she’s done such an outstanding job with the Sheriff’s Office. At the same time, we’re excited to have her in the DA’s Office because we will have a working relationship with the DA’s Office on a level that we have never had before. We’ve talked with Tommie and the DA’s Office and we feel this is going to be a move that benefits both the Sheriff’s Office and DA’s Office.”

Patrol Lt. Tom Anderson was named as Sorrell’s replacement. He lives in the Stateline community. He will move to the Detectives Division on Monday.

Sorrell is a Bogalusa High School graduate and also graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University where she received her undergraduate degree in English with a minor in creative writing and history. She earned her master’s in applied sociology from SLU with a concentration in criminal justice.

“Every since I was 17, law enforcement was all I ever wanted to do,” Sorrell said. “I just wanted to help people and make a difference.”

Sorrell said being out around citizens gets her juices flowing.

“I love giving back to the community and love giving talks to the community in hopes they can take back some information that helps them.”

Sorrell is the mother of a 10-year-old son, Joseph.

“Everything I do in this life is to set a positive example for my son,” Sorrell said. “I always tell him to leave people better than when he found them.”