Sheriff's office honors detective

St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office Detective Whytley Jones, the office’s first female African-American detective, was honored during a Black History Month celebration by Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Loreauville, according to a sheriff’s office news release. Jones graduated from Northwestern State University in 2010 with a major in biology and minor in psychology. She started her career in law enforcement at the Sheriff’s Office in 2011. Jones dispatched and patrolled the streets of the parish before being selected for the criminal investigations division in 2014. Jones has been instrumental in solving several complex investigations and constantly sets the highest standard of personal integrity as she leads by example, according to the release.