Louisiana State Police (LSP) has suspended three State Troopers and shut down a cooperative program with 44 parishes from Webster to Jefferson, from Calcasieu to East Carroll following a months-long investigation by New Orleans television reporter Lee Zurik that revealed the troopers were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime they may not have actually worked.
The action to shut down Local Agency Compensated Enforcement (LACE), a program in which state police are paid to conduct traffic patrol for local district attorneys, came after Zurik and New Orleans FOX 8 TV station surveillance found that troopers were in their homes much of the time for which they were being paid for doing patrol.
State Police Superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves, immediately upon learning of the Zurik findings, ordered the SUSPENSION OF THE LACE PROGRAM and also ordered a criminal investigation into what could ultimately be determined as payroll fraud.
Under the program, local district attorneys contract with LSP for the patrols. The parish keeps all fines written by the troopers and reimburses LSP for troopers’ overtime salaries.
The three troopers who were suspended, all from Southeast Louisiana and New Orleans, combined to receive some $340,000 in LACE payments. The three troopers who were suspended, their salaries, their years of service, and their LACE payments over the past year, in parenthesis, include:
- Master Trooper Daryl J. Thomas, a veteran of 22 years earning $89,300 ($150,000 in LACE payments);
- Hazmat Specialist Eric Curlee, 19 years with LSP earning $99,800 ($100,000 LACE);
- Byron G. Sims, polygraphist, 22 years with LSP, earning $109,000 ($90,000 LACE).
A fourth trooper under investigation is already out on sick leave and has not been suspended as yet. Because he has not yet been suspended, his name was not immediately available.
LouisianaVoice revealed in August that former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) member Monica Manzella, as part of her duties as an assistant city attorney for the City of New Orleans, signed off on LACE contracts between the city and LSP but she signed the contracts before being appointed to LSPC and she had no additional oversight responsibilities.
A retired State Trooper said that abuse of the LACE program is not restricted to the New Orleans area and that “there are dozens of troopers out there who have been less than honest on their LACE timesheets. And it’s been going on for years,” he said.
A 29-page report by the State Office of Inspector General in 2010 would seem to back up that claim. The REPORT, dated April 27, 2010, examined overtime for employees of both LSP and the Department of Health and Hospitals. It said that as much as 30 percent of all LSP overtime in 2008 could be attributed to LACE. Even then, it was noted that one trooper earned more than $80,000 in overtime pay.
A story by LouisianaVoice on Dec. 15, 2015, revealed that Trooper JIMMY ROGERS (now retired) was disciplined by former State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson in 2010 to a 240-hour reduction in pay for 30 pay periods (60 weeks), representing a penalty of more than $4,800. But on Nov. 13, 2015, it was revealed by then-Lt. Col. Charles Dupuy that Rogers was allowed to make up for the suspension by working LACE patrol.
Dupuy said in his letter to then-Troop D Commander Capt. Chris Guillory that from Jan. 6, 2011, to Aug. 9, 2011, “Trooper Rogers worked 16 LACE overtime details in violation of (policy) in effect at that time.”
Guillory told Internal Affairs investigators he was unaware of the policy and that he failed to inform Rogers’s immediate supervisor that Rogers was serving a disciplinary action.
LSP Public Information Officer Doug Cain told LouisianaVoice that subsequent to Zurik’s revelation of his findings, State Police Superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves immediately ordered the criminal investigation and the statewide shutdown of LACE.
Cain said there are three steps to the investigation. First, there will be the criminal investigation, followed by an Internal Affairs investigation. Following the IA investigation’s report, an administrative investigation would be conducted and a decision made on disciplinary action against those involved. A decision will be made on reinstatement of the LACE program pending the outcome of the department’s evaluation of the program.
“We hope to re-start the program at some point,” he said.
Unfortunately, the latest revelations by Zurik are nothing new and that this type of payroll chicanery has been going on for years.
The story of payroll fraud by some LSP Troopers is old news. It has been reported time and time again but no action is taken until the press gets wind of it. Zurik is to be commended for his dedication by conducting a surveillance operation. LSP has yet to learn that Lee did exactly what LSP should have been doing all along.
Any Trooper that spends his time at home while he is supposed to be working can only accomplish that feat with the tacit or purposeful approval of supervision. LSP has yet to hold a single supervisor accountable for failure to supervise troopers who write their set number of tickets (quota) and go home.
Let’s look back at Troop D. There were two troopers who were allowed to resign amid similar accusations. Their supervisors faced zero punishment for the actions they allowed. The common denominator of the two troopers was shift Lieutenant Paul Brady of Beauregard Parish. He supervised both Jimmy Rogers and RONNIE PICOU.
Picou was initially terminated, later allowed to resign, after an investigation revealed massive absences from his shift to include 50 shifts with no work product. LSP failed to even address the partial absences from duty. Troopers anonymously reported Picou for his actions. The response was to give the investigation over to his friends, Capt. Chris Guillory and now retired Lt. Jim Jacobsen.
Guillory cleared Picou and doubled down by allowing him to continue with his practice of writing an assigned number of citations and taking the remainder of the shift off. Brady replaced Jacobsen as the supervisor for Picou upon Jacobsen’s retirement. Picou was finally terminated after public records requests by LouisianaVoice. LSP could have surveilled Picou just as Zurik did but chose to not to. The internal investigation files showed Picou was committing payroll fraud but he was never held accountable for his actions. Nor was Brady.
Jimmy Rogers resigned suddenly after allegations of payroll fraud involving LACE. A trooper who worked with Rogers informed LouisianaVoice that Rogers did exactly what the troopers who are now under investigation did. He wrote his assigned number of citations and took the rest of the shift off. Rogers allegedly took it a step further by writing LACE citations on regular state funded shift and claimed them as overtime. This is more egregious than what Zurik has discovered. Rogers was allowed to resign.
There were efforts to obtain the investigation files on Roger’s departure from LSP. LSP has enthusiastically kept them from public view. An audit of radio logs, LACE citations, and dash cam videos will confirm that Roger’s conduct was more egregious than what Lee Zurik has discovered. We think it is time that LSP held former Trooper Rogers accountable for his actions. The statute of limitations has yet to expire on felony crimes. Picou’s supervisor, Paul Brady was not punished, according to our public records requests.
When it comes to investigating payroll fraud, LSP appears to be incapable or unwilling—or at least so it seemed under Edmonson’s and Secretary of Public Safety and Corrections Jimmy LeBlanc’s leadership. The media seemed to figure it out. When a crime is committed, do an investigation. That investigation might include surveilling the target of the investigation. It seems that investigatory prowess is lost when investigating their own.
One thing seems certain: Reeves did not deserve the mess he inherited from Edmonson.
Thanks for the speed with which you got this article out, Tom! I’d like to encourage everyone to click on Tom’s link above (labeled “Fox 8 TV”) and Facebook share Zurik’s preview of what will be aired and then Facebook share every installment of the series. The loudest message we can send is having your local station’s ratings (WAFB Channel 9 in Baton Rouge) expode through the roof watching this feature!
I have my own take on one of the biggest reasons we find ourselves in this corruption-plagued mess in Louisiana (outdoing FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Sallet was recently quoted in a TP article as saying, “There is no way public corruption can get any worse in this state,”) and that is a TOTALLY ineffective, inept, and complicit Inspector General. I wrote extensive commentary in that regard in today’s Advocate preview of Zurik’s upcoming feature, so rather than repeat that commentary here, if anyone wants to read it (or read Mustain’s preview article too wherein Street’s office if briefly mentioned), here’s the link: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/crime_police/article_9573f048-c4ab-11e7-9f20-a7d5d7a2f1af.html.
Excellent write-up Tom. Thanks.
This state is THE most corrupt in the nation. When is FBI going to start addressing a few of the real criminals…. the ones wearing a badge.
Well, for what it’s worth, outgoing FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Sallet seeks to assure us that his departure to Chicago won’t mean that any of the governmental corruption cases the New Orleans Office is working won’t continue full speed ahead. Here’s the link for him saying that and also saying governmental corruption in Louisiana “can’t get much worse.”: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/11/public_corruption_fbi_new_orle.html.
Thanks Robert for the link.
I can promise you that the Past Director of the F.B.I, Jeff Sallet , (after reading his background information and what he has handled prior to coming here), found this case a mental exercise before his first cup of coffee in the morning. I really hated to see him leave but I know he has done his homework while he was here and without a doubt, it is going to all come out and more. I don’t think we have ever had such an experienced person in the bureau in the Eastern District like Sallet. He even looked like a F.B.I. leader. Sometimes you can’t tell but with Sallet, he was different. I really admired the man.
I hope they get every last one of them troopers who are cheating but the supervisors should get even more than the troopers under them because they were supposed to be watching their own under them. I have more of a problem with them at the end of the day.
I really feel sorry for the new Director Reeves because he didn’t deserve to have to deal with this right out the gate of beginning his new position. May God give him the strength to see this through and the courage to move forward with the honor he more than deserves. Governor Edwards made wise choice with Reeves- very proud of him for that one!
GOD BLESS OUR GOOD TROOPERS -DON’T LET THIS GET YOU DOWN BECAUSE YOU ALL ARE APPRECIATED MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW!
Bob,
Its worth a helluva lot IMO! Thanks bruh.
People like this give honest, hard working state employees with integrity a bad name. Somehow I would like to believe that the State Police should be at the top of that group with integrity since they are charged with enforcing violations of the law by the public, but the dedicated people investigating this story have found otherwise. I am also troubled by someone on the State Police Commission entering into contracts with the State Police on behalf of her day job which involves law enforcement. If it is not an ethics violation, it probably should be. I’m sure Tom probably looked at the contract, but most state contracts should specify who is responsible for overseeing and reviewing the performance of the work. Maybe it is the local agency, and the number of tickets written was the criteria upon which performance was judged. It is obviously a problem either way, but SOMEBODY needs to be responsible since the honor and integrity of those performing the work is questionable. The payroll fraud violation occurs whether you personally claimed compensation for work not performed, or allowed this to occur. The widespread nature of the violations almost causes me to suspect this was how the program was unofficially presented to the new program participants. “Look, this is all you have to do . . .” Since this has been such a lucrative job, it might be interesting to follow the money, so to speak, to find the trail of those allowed to participate, from supervisors to subordinates, as passed down from the higher ups.
On another note about State Police, there was the obligatory local TV news report (I would name the station if I were sure which one) on the first day of the State Police Academy. The stories are usually the same from year to year, and even station to station: people standing at attention in line, people being yelled at by drill instructors, recruits either jogging or performing some sort of physical training, and a statement by somebody about how tough the training is and how many will wash out before graduation. In this one report, however, the story was a little different. A close up was shown of a recruit on the ground, along with the comment that this recruit washed out after only an hour and a half. Really? Was it necessary to embarrass this guy? He was probably really proud to be selected, and there might even be his mom out there who saw the report. If I were in charge of that academy, I would make sure that never happened again. And a thousand rotten tomatoes to the TV station.
To be fair, Manzella signed off on the LACE contract on behalf of the City of New Orleans prior to her appointment to LSPC and she had no oversight responsibilities for the administration of the contract.
Thanks, Tom. That is actually a relief.
I think the bottom line is that payroll fraud among Louisiana State Governmental employees is simply viewed as a fringe benefit inherit in the job irrespective of whether it’s a defined benefit upon the employee signing up to work.
Here’s a perfect case in point:
I had grave concerns about the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB) Executive Director, Sandy Edmonds, relaxing on beaches, vacationing in Disneyworld, visiting relatives in Oklahoma and Kansas, traveling to New York, all while claiming she was actively working as an LALB employee. That kind of makes Daryl Thomas seem like a workaholic if all he’s doing is missing 3-4 hours this day and 3-5 hours that day during which he says he’s working, huh?
So, I visit with Patrick Lowery, head of accountability at Civil Service. He says, “That’s blatant payroll fraud.” [Sidebar: Joel Friedman, Tulane Law Professor, referred to Thomas’ antics as “blatant payroll fraud” in Zurik’s feature tonight]. He tells me he can’t prosecute because Edmonds is unclassified. So, upon his guidance, I go to the Legislative Auditor. Their investigator, Calvin Moore, investigates, finds evidence of payroll fraud, and turns it all over to EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore who, in turn, immediately turns it over to Stephen Street, who ultimately gave a watered-down “report” on December 9, 2013.
Meanwhile, during the investigation of Edmonds, I’m summoned to appear before the LALB to answer charges that, by indicating Edmonds is committing “blatant payroll fraud,” I have “supplied reports to the public which are false and misleading.”
http://www.auctioneer-la.org/problems_robert_burns_91212_payroll.htm.
Let me add one thing. Who prosecuted my hearing for “false and misleading reports?” Well, that would be none other than convicted felon Larry S. Bankston! How did the LALB come to hire Bankston? Well, that would be compliments of the most corrupt man I have EVER met in my entire life, former Attorney General James D. “Buddy” Caldwell. Here’s the two-minute clip of my close friend and co-conspirator in the “false and misleading reports” prying out of LALB attorney Anna Dow that:
1. The LALB is going to pursue our auction licenses for making public records requests to substantiate the payroll fraud (notice the sheer volume Zurik had to procure to properly document his features).
and
2. Since Phillips will lose his auction license as a result, he will no longer qualify to sit on the LALB since “your ability to serve on this board is contingent upon you having an auction license.”
Robert, you can’t paint all state employees with the same broad brush. There are thousands of state employees who are honest, hard-working people who are trying to make ends meet after going nearly a decade without a pay raise in jobs where the pay is already low.
Thank you Tom for your comment. You posted right before me although I would have also and I did so with great restraint to Burn’s insult.
Certainly not, but what I’m saying is that the adage about one bad apple spoiling the whole barrel doesn’t work in reverse! It’s going to take way more than seeing a few “good apples” (which nobody denies exists) to eradicate the persuasive perception about state government employment overall.
As one journalist said earlier today at a meeting entailing the present situation, “If you can just choose three troopers like this and see these type findings, just how prevalent is this?” One individual with extensive knowledge of the situation responded, “It’s occurring across the board. The abuse is widespread.”
It most certainly is not isolated to LSP either! When an outgoing FBI special agent states, “the level of GOVERNMENTAL corruption in this state can’t get much worse,” I think that says about all anyone needs to hear!
Thank you Stephen for your excellent analysis of the root problem of our state government. It accurately points out that cultivating a positive workplace through earned recognition and at the very least an occasional COL increase will be returned in the form of increased productivity. All companies large and small know this and operate in just that way.
Robert Burns, if your amended comments you wrote to Tom are what you really meant then why didn’t you just write them? It is your inability to apologize to the thousands you insulted that speaks volumes of you, not them.
“I think the bottom line is that payroll fraud among Louisiana State governmental employees is simply viewed as a fringe benefit inherent in the job irrespective of whether it’s a defined benefit upon the employee signing up to do the work.”
Robert this line is complete and utter bull crap and cast aspersions on every single state employee. I take umbrage for them in general and my son and his wife, both of whom work in highly trained professional positions for the state. When my son graduated from LSU with a bachelor of science degree I urged him to enter the private sector where several firms and manufacturing companies were making him offers. He said.”Dad, I want to work for the state where maybe I can improve the problems like coastal erosion. I know I will make less money.” He loves this state; I raised him that way. He met his wife, my daughter in law, at a volunteer event doing hard work on their own time, restoring wetlands. The beneficiary was the state of Louisiana. The fringe benefit was a t-shirt and tired muscles. Neither had to do this, it was done for love of Louisiana. My daughter in law, as fate turned out, was also a degreed professional working in a different department for less than the market would pay for her services. They have both had to work under some of the names that have graced these pages and find them reprehensible. Luckily they’ve never been asked to break any laws and it might be because the “superiors” know they would leave rather than lower their values.
Robert, my statement to you is that your opening paragraph was a mindless, poorly thought, all encompassing condemnation of all state employees who get up early, mind their kids if necessary and go do their jobs just like everybody else in the private sector. Just like the private sector, aome will and do take advantage of their employer. Assuming they all do is ridiculous. You can write an apology now.
I’ll issue an apology WHEN and IF I see a lack of an absolutely pandemic problem in state government employment, and NOT ONE SECOND before!
These abuses aren’t isolated to high-level supervisors or low-level staffers. It is an ABSOLUTELY PANDEMIC problem!
I’m gradually reconciling myself to the fact that major change entailing accountability may never happen in my lifetime but, if and when it does, you can certainly expect that apology from me then and ONLY then.
In the meantime, I am going to extend my time and energy smattering the kind of abuses you see VIDEOTAPED above, and working with folk like Craig Mills, Billy Broussard, etc., who have expereienced the same state government bureaucratic indifference, emboldened sense of entitlement, and/or outright laziness that I see on such a pandemic display in state government as plainly outlined by Ms. Edmonds above and LSP Trooper Thomas’ antics (and those to come in subsequent features from Zurik).
And just to clarify, it is only AFTER I make a similar statement AFTER the change of which I speak will I issue suh an apology. Absent that change AND me making a repeat statement will I issue any apology because I make no apology about my assessment of existing state government employment and its total lack of accountability to the citizens of this state!
We have an unfortunate circular equation at work here.
Most (not just some) people have the same impression as Robert about the state in general and its employees, more specifically. I wrote a guest column for the Sunday ADVOCATE about this, and its effects, some 35 years ago – unfortunately, not much has happened to change the general public’s attitude since then and the cycle in which we find state government is perpetuated.
I know I sound like a broken record, warped CD, or whatever, but nobody wants to address the basic issue of accountability.
It is human nature that most people will do what is expected of them – no more, no less (notwithstanding exceptions like those Bob noted in another comment). That is psychology 101 and it applies to almost all of us from childhood through old age.
If an employee is not held accountable for his/her actions and his/her supervisor is not held accountable for failing to supervise, and nobody up the line is held accountable for anything the result is obvious.
Just one example of what happens: An employee is doing exceptional work. Not only is it ignored, but others doing less work are rewarded the same or sometimes even more. At this point the employee can, in order of likelihood: 1. Leave 2. lower his/her performance to the norm 3. Continue to over-achieve to maintain self respect.
The very last people I blame for this cycle are the line employees where the rubber meets the road. It’s all well and good to expect every employee to be a self-starter who requires no guidance to do his/her work and who should never require correction, but that is clearly unrealistic and, except for people who are self-employed, all employees in both the public and private sectors need active and accountable supervision. That is where things break down in the state.
Apparently everybody from the governor down has low expectations of government workers and find it easy to, as Bob says, look the other way and not expect the kind of performance expected in the private sector – or even acknowledge that it is possible. I will never forget when Gov. Foster equated state workers with welfare recipients on an LPB program. Does such a characterization encourage excellence?
Would you, Robert Burns, want to go to work for such an employer – and would you bust your butt for an unappreciative public that would hold you in disdain no matter how good a job you did?
Sorry for going on about this, but it is something I have been passionate about for a long time. I seem to be alone.
Actually, Stephen, I think you’ve provided an excellent summation and are spot-on! I also don’t mind answering your question: No, I would not, and I think Option 1 you presented is EXACTLY how I would handle the situation. I never talk much about my own governmental experience as an employee (Federal), but I will briefly let you know just what all the Baton Rouge Field Office of the FDIC was comprised of:
1. A total of about 36 examiners.
2. Of those 36, four were falling over drunks (and I am NOT exaggerating!!). One was so drunk at Sunburst Bank here in Baton Rouge that he was commanded from the Memphis Field Office to book the next flight out that evening, and he was “dealt with” (i.e. placed in an alcohol abuse program for yet ANOTHER time). Another, who’d been drinking heavily before showing up at a bank in Lafayette, got belligerent with the banker insisting he had changed out the bank’s computer system without FDIC approval (which was completely false). He too was “dealt with” similarly to the first drunk referenced, but he had his own unique way of “getting even” with the FDIC by routinely calling in “sick.” The other two drunks weren’t nearly as bad as the first two, but nevertheless bankers could easily smell the alcohol on their breaths as they returned from “extended lunches.”
3. One guy who could not control a gambling habit. He coerced an underling who was three grade levels beneath him into lying in saying he was working at a bank in New Orleans when, in reality, he was gambling every day at Beau Rivage in Biloxi. He was “in tight” with the Field Office Supervisor in Baton Rouge, however, so that was merely noted in the local file and Memphis was never even made aware of the any of it. Unfortunately, the guys’ habit was so out-of-control that he actually used his FDIC-issued credit card to withdraw funds AT THE CASINO to continue gambling! It takes two years to try and fire anyone at the FDIC, but they managed to convince him to “retire” and got a nice incentive to do so! Then, once that big windfall was gone, several years later, he begged the FDIC to take him back, and they DID, but they did not even run a check on him to see if he had charged off loans at a bank. Well, I got on the PACER system, saw where he filed bankruptcy, and he DID have charged off loans at banks (you CANNOT work for the FDIC under any circumstances if you’ve had charged off loans), so they had to rescind his rehire.
4. Another guy who thought his son was going to be the next NFL first-round draft choice and who’d just gotten a scholarship offer to Florida State didn’t have the money to get his son moved there, so he just took off using the FDIC-issued American Express and got him all settled in, running up a huge balance on the card which he couldn’t pay. They put him on LWOP (leave without pay) for a week as his punishment.
So, Stephen, you see, I actually HAVE worked in that type environment (this is just the first time I’ve publicly made these facts known) and I said, “I can’t deal with this bull s— anymore,” and I resigned on March 5, 1996! I have NEVER regretted it one bit!! So, I don’t exactly write from no experience on some of these posts I make!!
Robert this sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. This is shameful and will this ever get resolved any day soon? How do they get away with this? Don’t they think the public will find out what they are doing? What agency is allowing this to continue running like this?
I think they will have to answer to someone, someday, somehow, somewhere.
They can’t cover this up forever.
Thanks for sharing this with us. Don’t give up that is what they want you to do. Keep fighting and exposing what they do, that is the best chance you have, exposure works most of the time. Good luck.
Thanks, Barbara, and you don’t have to worry, I NEVER give up, and the momentum has changed drastically since that filming!!
Most, but not all, of the members serving on the LALB at that time are gone (only two remain, and one of those two is always quiet and passive and isn’t aggressive at all about the type of thing you see in that video).
Also, I know Attorney General Jeff Landry has taken heat in recent articles Tom has written, and I must be honest: I’m disappointed that we have not seen more governmental corruption prosecutions too. Nevertheless, AT LEAST Landry, unlike Caldwell, had enough common sense to respond to a question about the video you see above with this short and succinct statement:
Tom hit the nail on the head when he mentioned Supervisors condoning illegal and unethical behavior not being held accountable for their subordinates activities. Several reasons for this:
1. Eight Years of corruption under Michael Edmonson and Charles Dupuy encouraging a toxic culture of fraternity style leadership.
2. All Troopers and DPS employees not being a member of the inner circle or fraternity being threatened, ridiculed, and harassed.
3. Promotions at high levels were given to those of the inner circle who have a history of questionable and unethical activity who have corrupted the organization from the top down. Thus the revelations we are now seeing in ticket writing.
By the way, its not just LACE, they need to take a look at the federal grants as well, such as DWI and Seatbelt Enforcement. They get their magical number, (quota) in a short period and then goof off while on the clock. Unfortunately, something with good intentions becomes all about making money and not about public safety.
Well, they had a chance to nip some of this in the bud if they would have fired those on the vegas trip that committed fraud, but it didn’t happen. Ole mikey stood up and promised Zurik that Thomas was earning it, but never checked. If mikey would have been any kind of policeman, he would have realized that Zurik was tipping him off. His fraternity was so busy taking advantage of hotel rooms, bar hopping in the big easy and taking vegas trip(s) on personal airplanes that they didn’t care what was happening… Let the chips fall where they may… I know what I would do if I was in their shoes… but I AIN’T TELLING!! You made your bed.. now sleep in it…. I’m really sad for those who are doing it the right way, I thank those Troopers.
This is at least the 100th time I have emphasized the main point of this and every other post Tom has made about problems in state government – the same problems, by the way, that cause most people to believe their taxes are largely squandered and, naturally, makes them less inclined to vote for more.
ACCOUNTABILITY – Where is it?
We have a governor. He has department heads. The department heads have people they directly supervise, etc., etc.
Does the governor ever call his department heads in and simply tell them he is sick of reading and seeing this kind of thing in the news? If so, what do his department heads do and what happens if they don’t?
It seems any officials who have left government have done so because of the scandals resulting from media coverage, not from the exercise of accountability within the government.
Somebody please tell me where I am off track here.
Stephen you are and have been on track. Government essentially runs just like business. The key difference is the “look the other way” attitude that permeates the top levels of many departments. This behavior is simply unacceptable in private business. Were it allowed these businesses would go under within two years or so. The fact that this type behavior is allowed to continue without serious ramifications explains why Louisiana is at the bottom of all lists that matter.
The Jindalites/Trumpites (read Alt right but always wrong) promotes that corruption is a crime and drain the swamp theory, thus playing to our ignorance.I agree with Mr. Winham but “accountability” is there. We have a state auditor, many Legislative committees, and thus a functioning government, to effect?afffect our daily iives. My recommendation-take “I” and “me” out of the analysis and think “US” and of course love always ron Thompson
Ron, your are quite correct that we have a legislative auditor (who does a great job, by the way) and legislative oversight committees that chastise people in government when they do things wrong. But, if nothing changes as a result of catching these bad practices after-the-fact, it doesn’t really matter, does it?
Accountability should be vested in the executive branch with the intent of preventing bad practices and should be a simple matter of holding managers responsible at every level of the executive branch from the governor all the way down to the lowest level supervisor. Having worked in both government and corporate environments, I can assure you this works in the corporate environment.
Large bureaucracies exist in both sectors and can result in inefficiencies in each. The difference is just as Bob in BR stated above. Yes government exists for a different reason than business, but there is nothing that precludes it being accountable except, as Bob says, simply looking the other way.
We, the voters, should hold the legislative branch accountable through our votes and they should hold their staffs accountable through effective management of that branch of government. We don’t elect most department heads so we have to rely on the governor and those department heads we do elect to make the executive branch accountable. Shaming them doesn’t seem to be working and I’m not sure what will.
Col. Reeves is a good trooper but not aggressive enough to fix the current problems. Tom brought this problems out first at Troop D, but no one was punished for that. Col. Reeves should start there and do the right thing. If he was a smart man, he should hire Tom or at least consult with on these problems because it is obvious that Tom is a great investigator has has more knowledge about the state police problem than Reeves. Tom is a great resource that could be used to fix these problems. But Reeves needs to want to fix them.
A dozen Florida Highway Patrol troopers from Tallahassee to Miami were fired, forced to retire or otherwise disciplined after an in-house investigation into whether they were billing the agency for hours they spent working from home, eating at restaurants and visiting girlfriends and relatives (this was around 2014-2015)…….
This is nothing new. Old supervisors passed the tradition along. The other trick told was to write most tickets at the beginning and have the last ticket written in the final hour to appear as hard working all program long. What a joke. I could tell you more tricks of some weasels that just make me sick. The program needs to worked in 2-3 hours blocks (no more than 3 hours a day) to self fix the problem of abusing the 6 or 12 hours of LACE. All the old timers will tell you, LACE sounds good, but its all about the numbers, baby. Whats next? We should say, What new these days? Same old things that should have been exposed since the 1980’s.
Stephen I know you can’t see me but I am applauding you so hard with my hands that they are red from being stung.
Enough is enough and if no one speaks out nothing will ever change It is so refreshing to know that we have someone like yourself who is willing to continue the fight for all of us. If and when you succeed and without a doubt I know that you will, everyone will gain from you efforts, so I want to Thank You in advance. I can feel your pain in your comments and I know you will fight to the end.
Accountability, accountability, accountability is the only answer in order to clean up our State.
Every Trooper who got caught taking extra money when they weren’t working for it should be fired and prosecuted for theft. No excuses, no exceptions, no favoritism. Fired and gone and replaced by good decent troopers who really want to do the right thing.
I think this rank and file system is the cause of this mess. Just because someone has been on the job for a long time doesn’t necessarily make them better than the new trooper on the team. Sometimes a new trooper has fresh ideas that could blow the seasoned trooper clean out the water.
After this investigation maybe that is what they need, a clean washed out system of checks and balances because somebody or a bunch of somebody’s sure dropped the ball. Just a reprimand and keeping them on the force is the WORSTEST thing they could let happen. FIRED AND GONE FOR GOOD!!
Please don’t pick and chose who to keep because Daddy or Grandpa or Nannie or Parran worked here before and this one is related to this one and knows too much on that one.
The State of Louisiana can’t afford this abuse. People are struggling because of the economy and State Police should be the TOP AGENCY THAT EVERYONE IN LOUISIANA CAN LOOK UP TO. These few who did this should be punished harshly for staining LSP’S reputation. Wasn’t the Edmonson saga enough? Come on, jail their butts ALREADY!!
Tom,
The new LSPC, State Police Commission, on Thursday has reopened their investigation regarding illegal campaign contributions by the Louisiana State Troopers Association. On another matter, it also appears the LSPC consolidated the appeals of the payroll thieves from the famous San Diego trip, Miller, Williams, and Hyatt. I wonder when the LSTA will stop trying to defend the BAD Troopers and stop blaming their wrong doing on someone else?
Good work ethics start at the very top of any agency, and trickles down. The “good ole boy” way of running things is still alive, and well at State Police HQ.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Col. Reeves was a card carrying member of Edmonson’s inner circle from the very beginning. Sure, Col. Reeves laid low during the bidding for the top cop slot, but don’t kid yourself, it was all rigged from the very start.
From day one, Col. Reeves was on the State Police fast-tract for promotion, from the moment he graduated the Training Academy.
Literally, for years you couldn’t enter the cafeteria at the LSP Training Academy without seeing his parents near the entry doors. Why? Because they we’re politicking for their son. Anyone of any rank, or political strength was personally greeted by them. To the extent it was a joke among those of us that ate at the Training Academy Cafeteria on a daily basis that his parents were the “Wal-Mart Greeters” for the La. State Police.
Tom, all you’d have to do is check out Col. Reeves promotion records. This guy shot to the top like a rocket, as one can only do riding corrupt Louisiana politics. In fact, he may have promoted faster than anyone in LSP History.
The only way to change what’s going on at State Police is to promote someone that never had ties to the old HQ staff. Surely they have someone in State Police that has not been exposed to the Edmonson virus of corruption. Better yet, appoint someone outside the Department to step in and clean house.
Replacement with a newly retired FBI agent could be the answer for new blood as top cop. Until then the “Frat House” mentality will only continue. You will never see a change at any level in our government. Because after all this is still Louisiana…………………………
Smoking Gun, I’m not a trooper or a retired trooper, but it is my understanding that the Superintendent of State Police must come from within the ranks of LSP. That would automatically eliminate many otherwise qualified applicants, including retired FBI agents.
If someone out there is familiar with the qualifications for the position, please clarify. If I am incorrect in my thinking, I’d like to know.
You’re correct, but all it would take is a bill to change the statute applicable to remedy that situation in no time flat, and it DESPERATEDLY needs to be done!
Buck, you are correct on the fact that the Superintendent of State Police must come from the ranks of LSP, and also must be a Captain, or of higher rank.
Being a retire LSP trooper I was aware of that rule at the time of my above posting. LSP desperately needs the Louisiana Statute changed. The only way to brake up the “good ole boy”, “promote only your buddies” mentality at HQ is to bring in new leadership from outside the department.
Beginning with the departure of Col. Rut Wittington, the Office of State Police became stagnant, and took a downward spiral, with promotions being based on connections, and not on merit. I can only hope that the state statute will be changed before further collapse, and that the Departments reputation can once again be restored. Short of a statute change, and bringing in an outsider to head up State Police the corruption will only continue.
When you retire, you are no longer within the chain of conversation. You do though, have another flow of information. We hear things happening within the troops to this very day through other networks of communication. The department and upper command staff act confused or surprised when these issues are brought to the forefront but when the troop captain tells his Lieutenants and Sgts. not to check on his troopers’ whereabouts, that’s a problem. When he says to enter the time they claim, without questioning it, that’s a problem. When he condones claiming hours in excess of those actually earned and writes up those who refuse to claim overtime, that’s a problem. When he has troopers resigning in lieu of being fired for payroll fraud, that’s a problem. When, after losing total control of the troop under his command, his only punishment is having to drive to Baton Rouge, while on the clock at taxpayer expense, that’s a problem. So, I guess its easy to say that, Yes, LSP has problems.
These things were happening seven years ago when I retired. Through the retiree network I hear, these things are still taking place. A hands-off order was and is still in place for the Edmonson’s holdouts. With that said, there are still good troopers out there who believe in public safety without doctoring payroll to accomplish that mission. But heed this warning: they are a dying breed, being systematically hunted by the HQ supervisors and Regional supervision through the state to the intended point of extinction.
Thank you so much for this post. It reinforces my contention above entailing it being a PANDEMIC problem. You were on the inside, so you know. I’m being told to “feel free to issue an apology now,” notwithstanding the fact that I gave the response I gave because I’m not one to bury my head in the sand and ignore the pervasive payroll fraud that is transpiring at EVERY level, within EVERY agency, and with an emboldened sense of entitlement in state government operations.
I do not hold political office, nor will I ever hold one. Hence, I’m under no obligation to sugar coat a PANDEMIC problem by saying things like, “It’s too bad a few isolated incidents like this ruin the good names of so many hard-working employees for the state of Louisiana.” That’s a political statement. Your assessment, and the commentary I made in my first paragraph in my “controversial” post is REALITY! It is obvious you lived in a world of REALITY and won’t just hide your head in the sand and take the “see no evil, hear no evil” attitude that some would clearly wish you, me, and others who bluntly call this garbage out will would take.
Thank you for your years of hard service and your boldness to clearly state that you and some few like you do exist (though, like me with the FDIC, you just couldn’t stomach this garbage any longer and left), but quoting you, “They are a dying breed, being systematically hunted by the HQ supervisors and Regional supervision through the state to the intended point of extinction.”
Apology be damned!!
Thank you. I have no regrets, I retired with over 35 years of total service. I can say it was not always like this. There was a time when this behavior was not tolerated. Supervisors and promotions were earned based on merit and performance. The last decade they became gifts to be given to chosen personnel that could be controlled, because now they owed someone for the promotion they had been given. It was more about being friends and laid back, rather than accountability. As much as they pushed, transferring me from place to place, back to where I was, then again somewhere else, just to try to break my will and for me and five other supervisors to get on their new way of doing things. Slowly I watched as they and myself were bullied to the point of retirement. You either gave in and looked the other way or were bullied by upper management and the section majors and Lt. Colonels, the very same ones still there.
I can say Mr. Burns there are many dedicated and strong willed troopers still within the department. The few, if need be, would and have made the ultimate sacrifice for the protection of others and there fellow troopers. These men and women, the good ones, will never get on board with their way of doing things. But unfortunately, they will have a long and hard career, and will have to fight tooth and nail to get what they have actually earned.
The Former Retired Guy, I, like you sir, am a retired LSP trooper with over twenty four years of police service. There is rampant dishonesty across the entire state when it comes to LACE, and other overtime projects within the department. I can assure you had FOX 8 in New Orleans ask for cooperation, and coordination of other news networks scattered across the state, and ran a joint “undercover” operation on this overtime fraud, the results would have made the Louisiana taxpayers hair stand on in. For the newly appointed Col. Reeves to give an interview to FOX 8 News, and deny any knowledge of this blatant fraud being conducted across the state is an outright lie, and a direct indicator of his on dishonesty, and lack of integrity. He, Col. Reeves was the Major over LSP Patrol just before his appointment to head up LSP. I could not believe my eyes, and ears, when I watched that FOX 8 News interview. WHAT, Col. Reeves has know about this fraudulent activity for years. He was over Patrol for crying out loud. The message above is correct that was written by Buck Turgidson, and I was aware of the state statute that requires that the Head of State Police must come from the ranks at the time of my previous post, but lets all be honest here, the state statute needs to be change desperately. LSP started a decline shortly after the departure of Col. Rut Whittington.
Every Head of LSP for the last number of years has been cut from the same cloth. Every appointee over the last number of years has been selected from the inner circle of “Good Ole Boy’s”.
Don’t kid yourselves, Col. Reeves was Col. Edminsons “golden boy”, and rode into office on his coattail.
We’ll only see change in the LSP when it receives a total blood transfusion, and that will only occur with the appointment of a person with a strong law enforcement background from OUTSIDE the department of LSP.
Col. Reeves, to my knowledge never did much as a trooper other than wrote a few tickets. He was allowed to change his work schedule as a road trooper so he could attend Louisiana Tech, and complete his degree. No other trooper’s were allowed to do this, or at least not from North Louisiana.
Col. Reeves had the inside track for promotion from the very moment he graduated the academy, and was promoted over much more deserving troopers.
Tom would have to check Col. Reeves records, but many in the ranks say he was promoted the fastest of any trooper in LSP history. He accomplished all of this simply writing a few tickets, serving a few years in LSP Narcotics, and also being allowed to flex his work schedule, and attend college.
He was a golden boy then, and remains one today. Trust me, LSP is still a frat house, good ole boy club.
I don’t personally have anything against Col. Reeves, with the exception, that he was allowed special privileges to attend college, when others where denied the same privilege, and he was promoted over men much more deserving of the slot.
Last, but least, I’m shocked that he would deny any knowledge of fraudulent activity among some who work LACE overtime projects. Again, he was the Major over LSP Patrol, if he didn’t know what was going on, then he certainly is not qualified to run the entire Department of Corrections.
There are many fine men and women among the ranks of the Louisiana State Police to select from for promotion, but if you check the records you’ll find that the frat house, good ole boy way of running things is still alive, and well at LSP……………………………………………………
Note: Also there is a quota on tickets while working LACE Projects, and other Enforcement Project. On LACE you must write two hazardous citations per hour of patrol. On DWI Taskforce you are required to make one DWI arrest per six hours worked. If you fail to write the necessary number of citations you will be dropped from the program.
In all the years I was a trooper, I only worked LACE a few times. It was tough, or at least back then it was, to write two legitimate, hazardous citations per hour back then where I patrolled, and God knows I could have used the money. We didn’t make anything way back then.
LACE also took your discretion away, you didn’t have time to hear any excuses from the stopped violator. I choose not to work LASE simply because I felt that I was prostituting myself.
I personally feel that LACE was a bad idea from its conception, and should have been halted many years ago. LACE is all about money, money, money, and highway safety, not so much. Like the Bible says, “money is the root of all evil”…………………
P.S. Tom, if you would check the records on LACE I would have to think that the bulk of all tickets written are for speeding. I was taught that speeding, statistically, is rarely a factor in vehicle crashes, but is a tremendous “CASH COW” for Departments across the state of Louisiana.
In my travels across the country I’ve found that the speed limits are much more generous than Louisiana. Many places in the state of Texas have speed limits of 80 MPH, and these same roads are no different than many in the state of Louisiana. Why ? Money, money, money. Plus, Texas ain’t broke.
Go figure…………………………..Lol
Change the state statute, and select a fine candidate with a strong background in law enforcement to head The Louisiana State Police, and Department of Correction. Someone that will promote based on abilities, and not connections. There are some fine candidates out there among the ranks of retiring FBI Agents.
The only way to change the direction of the Department is to clean house at the very top of Command, and totally take out a few levels of the Command Staff. Anything short of this, and it will remain as is.
CUT THE HEAD OFF THE SNAKE
TOTALLY DRAIN THE SWAMP AT LSP
LSP / Retired
Smoking Gun
I got a ticket from a trooper in Opelousas. And he wasn’t even there after going to Texas to work for FEMA after Harvey. I ran off the road and called State Farm to pull me out. It was raining pretty hard. I hydroplaned went into ditch. 25 minutes after a trooper pulled up asked what happened. Then he gave me ticket and was nowhere near the accident. And he wouldn’t even let me call my insurance. To get a tow. He said he had to call. Probably someone he knew. Then the tow truck driver and the trooper parked under the bridge and shook hands.