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Fred Sliman, Jr.

Chief criminal deputy of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office for 36 years and a total of 46 years in law enforcement, he died in 7:20 PM Thursday, Jan. 23, 1996, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. He was 73, a resident of Baton Rouge and a native of New Orleans. He was a U.S. Navy veteran with the rank of specialist G (aerial gunnery) third class petty officer. Visiting at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd., 12:30 PM to 7:00 PM Sunday and after 8:00 AM Monday. Religious services at the funeral home at noon Monday, conducted by the Rev. Jeff Bayhi.

Survived by wife, Dorothy Jean Tillery Sliman; a son and daughter-in-law, Fred Sliman III and Barbara Sliman, two grandchildren, Kaitlyn Nicole Sliman and Kasey LeAnne Givens; mother-in-law, Modena Tillery Blanchard; two nephews; uncles, including Kalil Sliman Jr.; and numerous aunts and cousins. Preceded in death by parents, Fred Sr. and Emily Sliman; and a sister, Vivian Sliman Geen.

Honorary pallbearers are Sheriff Elmer Litchfield, Chief Greg Phares, Chief Pat Bonanno, Col. W.R. "Rut" Whittington, Doug Welborn, Bobby Dale Callender, Chaney Joseph, Col. Mike Barnett, Lt. Danny McAllister, Capt. Paul Maranto, Major Bud Connor, Capt. C.E. Martello, Major Reginald Brown, Major Silas Geralds, Major Michel Fourrier, Capt. Bill Carroll, Lt. Steve Weber, Capt. J. Bryan Clemmons, Dale Dicharry, Jimmy Brown, John Grady Brown, Tre' Brown and members of East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

He was a graduate of Warren Easton High School, New Orleans, and attained a degree in journalism and English from LSU.

He was a patrolman and a detective with the city police from 1951-53, chief investigator for East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office from 1953-60. From 1960 on, he served in the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, starting as detective and working his way through the ranks until his promotion to colonel in 1977. He was named chief criminal deputy in 1982. From 1982-83, he served as sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish and since 1983, he has served as chief criminal deputy. He received numerous accreditations and degrees from law enforcement schools nationwide, including the FBI National Academy, Police Law Specialist School, Narcotics Training School and Organized Crime Investigation Course, the U.S. Army Military Police School and U.S. Secret Service Training School. He was one of the authors of the Louisiana Law Enforcement Handbook and was appointed to the Louisiana Criminal Justice Information System Advisory Committee. He was a frequent lecturer to many law enforcement classes and seminars, including the LSU Law Enforcement School and Sheriff's Office Reserve Training Courses. He was a member and past president of Louisiana Peace Officer's Association.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Chief Deputy Fred Sliman dead at 73

(The Advocate 1/25/96)

Sheriff's Chief Deputy Col. Fred Sliman Jr., one of the men who literally wrote the book on Louisiana law enforcement, died Thursday night of cancer. He was 73.

"It's like losing a member of the family," Sheriff Elmer Litchfield said.

He spent more than 45 years in law enforcement, 36 of those with the Sheriff's Office. He had been chief criminal deputy since 1982. In 1983 he served as acting sheriff for 10 months after Al Amiss died in office and before Litchfield was elected.

Col. Mike Barnett, who was sworn in Friday morning as chief criminal deputy, said Sliman helped change the face of law enforcement during his career.

"He was part of the change from the beat police officer to professional law enforcement officers," Barnett said.

Sliman, who had a degree in journalism and English from LSU, began his law enforcement career in 1951 with the Baton Rouge Police Department. He worked as a patrolman and a detective before moving to the District Attorney's Office as an investigator in 1953.

In 1954, he was the chief investigator for the office, and remained in that position until 1960 when he joined the Sheriff's Office as a deputy in the Detective Division. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a major by 1968.

He ran the Intelligence Section and was chief of detectives before he was promoted to chief of field operations in 1971, supervising the Detective Division, Uniform Patrol, and the other sections of the Criminal Field Operations Bureau. Sliman became a lieutenant colonel in 1972 and a colonel in 1977.

In 1979, Sliman and two others wrote and edited the "Louisiana Law Enforcement Handbook", a guide for officers that Barnett called the bible of law enforcement.

In 1982, Sliman became chief criminal deputy.

During his career, Sliman also lectured at LSU's Basic Law Enforcement School, served as president of the Louisiana Peace Officers' Association and attended the FBI National Academy in Washington, D.C.

Those who worked with Sliman described him as a serious student of law and an icon of integrity.

Cheney Joseph, executive counsel for Gov. Murphy J. "Mike" Foster and an LSU law professor, said Sliman was an expert in criminal law whom Joseph invited to speak to his law students.

Sliman enjoyed the university atmosphere, Joseph said.

"He loved to come out and have lunch at the Faculty Club," Joseph said.

Joseph, who worked with Sliman in the District Attorney's Office and remained close to him, said he still has a copy of a briefing paper Sliman wrote explaining to police the 1966 Supreme Court decision in Miranda vs. Arizona that led to the well-known "Miranda rights" which suspects must be given before questioning.

Pat Bonanno, who worked with Sliman in the Sheriff's Office for years before becoming Baton Rouge Police chief, said he was a mentor whose simple advise taught him volumes.

"Do what you do the best you possibly can," Bonanno recalled Sliman teaching him when he was just starting out.

Litchfield called Sliman a "leader, a teacher, an innovator" who drafted many Sheriff's Office policies.

Barnett, who said Sliman taught him "the vast majority (of what) I know about law enforcement" said the position he has taken will be a difficult one.

"I guess every decision I make, I'll have to ask myself what he would have done."

Sliman is survived by his wife, Dorothy Jean Tillery Sliman, and a son, Fred Sliman III.