[5] Lafayette Parish is a part of the region of Acadiana in southern Louisiana, along the Gulf Coast.

According to the 2020 United States census, there were 241,753 people, 94,490 households, and 59,937 families residing in the parish.

[14] Of its population, 4.2% were foreign born, with the majority coming from Latin America, Asia, and Europe.

The parish voters often supported Democratic presidential candidates before the 1970s, but the majority of conservative whites has trended Republican since that time.

After regaining the power to register and vote, black voters tended to affiliate with and support national Democratic Party candidates.

The majority of the parish voted for the Republican presidential candidates from 1992 to 2020, and did so by generally increasing margins.

In the 2008 election Lafayette Parish cast the majority of its votes for Republican John McCain.

The department, headed by Sheriff Mark T. Garber, consists of around 750 sworn and non-sworn employees.

[citation needed] In 2003, the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office joined with the University of Louisiana to create ALETA, the Acadiana Law Enforcement Training Academy.