11 months on, the search for a new police chief is in the final stage. There are now six candidates in the running to be Lafayette's next Chief of Police. Four others opted out of taking a civil service exam. Mayor-President Josh Guillory hopes a new Chief will take office by the new year.
"I would've liked to have one by now, im sure everyone would" Guillory said.
The next step for the remaining candidates, an interview with LCG's search committee.
The six remaining applicants include two current members of Lafayette police: Sgt. Wayne Griffin, Sgt. Paul Trouard.
Sgt. Wayne Griffin of Scott currently serves as the LPD public information officer and has 18 years of law enforcement experience. Griffin also served three years as an armored truck driver and four years in the United States Marine Corps. Griffin has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Louisiana State University at Alexandria and a master's degree in business administration from Husson University in Maine.
Sgt. Paul Trouard of Opelousas is currently a Lafayette Police Department sergeant, and has worked with LPD since 1997. Trouard has worked with LPD as a patrol officer, a field training officer, a detective, and an officer-involved shooting supervisor. He has a total of 23 years of law enforcement experience. Trouard holds a bachelor's degree in general studies from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Trouard also received 400 hours of training at the FBI National Academy in Virginia.
Guy Lebreton of Cade is a retired lieutenant watch commander who has worked for LPD since 1994. LeBreton has a combined 27 years of law enforcement experience with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a master's degree in homeland security from Northwestern State University.
Edwards Reynolds of Bossier City, currently works as the chief of police at the Southern University Police Department in Shreveport. He previously served as police chief at Forrest City Police Department in Arkansas, police chief at Wilton Police Department in Maine and as a detective at New Haven Police Department in Connecticut. He has 25 years of combined law enforcement experience. Reynolds holds a master's degree in education from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.
Bobby Jackson of New Iberia, currently works as the owner of Jackson Investigations of Iberia, which was formed in 2007. He previously worked as a commander in the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, an intelligence officer for the U.S. Army Reserves, the chief of enforcement at the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, a parole officer at the Louisiana Department of Corrections Probation and Parole office in New Iberia, a police officer at the New Iberia Police Department and a police officer at the Southern University Police Department. Jackson has 17 years of combined law enforcement experience.
Thomas Glover of Grand Prairie Tx, is a retired lieutenant commander with the Dallas Police Department, where he worked since 1981. He has 36 years of law enforcement experience. He holds a BS in criminal justice from Grambling State University.
Over the summer, the search was re-opened to try and attract more out of state candidates. The search resulted in six new applicants.
"Maybe our next chief is in those first four, but we felt like it for the one we do hire, wasn't fair to be chosen from four, we did another national search, I would have liked to see more candidates apply, but it is what it is, we pray that god has blessed us with the candidate of choice, in this next group" Guillory said.
Civil service exam results are still pending. Once those are in, and interviews are conducted, the search committee will make a recommendation, but the decision on Lafayette's new Police Chief is ultimately up to the Mayor-President.
Here's the latest on the search for a new Lafayette Chief of Police.
KATC TV3's Katie Easter will have more tonight, but here are some key facts to know after today's committee meeting:
-Interview with the candidates is set for next Friday in an executive session (behind closed doors)
-Out of 10 applicants, only six remain, four opted of taking a civil service exam.
-The hope is to have someone in place by the new year
-Committee members will not have a selection for the city-parish administration until the test results of the applicants come back, which might be December 9
-They are also hoping to get written questions submitted by local high schoolers for the applicants, opening a door of communication to the younger crowd.
THE APPLICANTS ARE:
Sgt. Wayne Griffin
Sgt. Paul Trouard
Guy LeBreton
Thomas Glover
Edwards Reynolds
Bobby Jackson
