ARNAUDVILLE, La. — Arnaudville's town council members have asked the elected police chief to resign.
The chief declined.
It went down Tuesday night at the town council meeting. Councilman Jamie Huval read a statement saying he thinks Chief Eddy LeCompte is incompetent in the areas of finances, personnel, management and "in working with the governing body."
He then made a motion calling for the vote of no confidence, which the rest of the council approved, unanimously.
"Let it be known that while this vote cannot remove the chief from office it shows that this governing body does not agree with his actions and decisions he has made as a leader of our community and most importantly we do no support him in these actions and decisions," Huval's statement reads.
The council asked LeCompte to resign, but he said no, a town spokesperson said.
LeCompte tells KATC that the council members have never brought any concerns to him, despite his making it clear that "my door is always open."
He says he's aware of the council's displeasure with him, but he has to do his job as he believes it should be done.
"The police department is an independent department," LeCompte said.
He said that, despite that, he still was blind-sided by Tuesday's vote.
"From my standpoint, it doesn't matter, because I've taken an oath to protect and serve. It hurts, and I dwell on it, but in this case I even told them at the meeting, If you have complaints, send me the complaints and let me respond in some form or fashion," the chief said.
LeCompte is an elected police chief, which means that no action on the part of the council can remove him from office. Under Louisiana law, only a felony conviction or a recall election can remove an elected official. One recall has been attempted against LeCompte, which was unsuccessful.
LeCompte was re-elected to the position in November 2018 with 58 percent of the vote. There was a 57 percent turnout for that vote.
