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Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »
In my efforts to expose what I remain convinced is a leadership void in State Police headquarters, my last post has aroused considerable anger at what was perceived as disrespect for the late Steven Vincent and his family.
That was certainly not my intent and to the Vincent family, I offer my apologies for any hurt that I may have caused and for any poor judgment I may have exercised in my series about LSP leadership. Likewise, even though Sgt. Savoy confirmed the existence of the letter, if I have brought any discomfort to him in this matter, I also offer apologies to him.
And while I have removed that part of the post that refers to the letter sent to headquarters in 2012, it should not be seen as a withdrawal from my willingness to expose corruption wherever it’s found—either within the Department of Public Safety or any other agency.
Though some of my critics may have a different opinion, I am human with feelings and emotions just like anyone else. And as a human, those feelings sometimes are lost in the pursuit of an objective, in this case, a story. That doesn’t justify any mistake in judgment, it’s just a fact of life.
Again, I have taken down the story not because I believe it was inaccurate, but in consideration for those affected—a consideration I should have taken into account before posting it.
Tom Aswell
Posted in Politics | 6 Comments »
To say we were disappointed in John Bel Edwards’s decision to reappoint State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson would be an understatement. What LouisianaVoice has learned—and published—about problems throughout LSP, particularly in Troop D, should be reason enough to turn Edmonson away.
Edwards made two major mistakes in arriving at his decision. First, he listened to the Louisiana Sheriffs Association and Louisiana Police Chiefs Association. Second, he did not listen to the voices of state troopers whose morale has hit rock bottom and who have made their feelings known, albeit anonymously, in the comment sections of our posts. Realistically, they have no voice to compete with the sheriffs and chiefs.
The sheriffs association had its reasons for wanting Edmonson reappointed.
Edmonson, after all, has hired numerous officers whose only qualifications are that they are related in some way to some sheriff or police chief. Together, they are quite powerful and their endorsement, coming as it did when the outcome of the governor’s election was still in question, was an important coup for Edwards. At the time, Edwards’s opponent, U.S. Sen. David Vitter was hammering Edwards with a withering barrage of TV ads claiming that Edwards wanted to turn thousands of dangerous convicts loose on a helpless citizenry. And it’s difficult for a candidate to win a given parish, especially against those kinds of attacks, without the local sheriff’s support.
One would think, however, that Edwards, when first approached by the sheriffs and chiefs would have been more circumspect. It was Edwards, after all who in 2014 called for an investigation of the manner in which that retirement boost for Edmonson of $30,000 to $50,000 (the numbers vary) was sneaked through in the closing hours of the 2014 legislative session. https://louisianavoice.com/2014/07/19/reps-john-bel-edwards-and-kevin-pearson-will-request-investigation-of-edmonson-retirement-amendment-source/
Edmonson, of course, initially denied any hand in the bill amendment offered up by State Sen. Neil Riser. But as events unfolded, it became clear that Edmonson was behind the effort from the beginning.
Unfortunately, in the world of hard ball politics, crucial endorsements have a way of overriding good judgment.
On Oct. 27, three days after the first primary, I sent an e-mail to Edwards in which I asked him his intentions regarding an Edmonson reappointment. He wrote back that he had no intentions either way and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Here is that e-mail exchange:
On Oct 27, 2015, at 10:57 AM, Tom Aswell wrote:
Please tell me your intentions as to the re-appointment of Mike Edmonson.
Tom Aswell
LouisianaVoice
From: John Bel Edwards Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 12:50 PM To: Tom Aswell Subject: Re: QUESTION
I don’t intend one way or the other
We won’t go so far as to say Edwards misled us, but we do know how backroom political tradeoffs are made and even back then we were hearing that the deal had already been cut.
We will leave this with a word of advice for Edwards that he may or may not chose to take to heart: You would be very wise to keep Edmonson on a short leash. Take any complaints you may hear about him seriously even though no state trooper in his right mind would dare come forward with a public beef for genuine fear of reprisals.
Short leash, Governor.
Posted in Corruption, Ethics, Governor's Office, State Police | 36 Comments »
LouisianaVoice has learned of new developments in the ongoing saga of the State Police Internal Affairs investigation at Troop D.
We first learned that Troop D Commander Capt. Chris Guillory has filed an appeal of an undetermined disciplinary action for unknown actions. We now know what that discipline was as well as what the alleged infraction was, and it substantiates what we wrote about back in August.
It was also brought to our attention that certain retired state troopers are no longer welcome at meetings of affiliate members of the Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA), especially those retirees who might question the wisdom of the LSTA’s making campaign contributions to political candidates.
Pursuant to a public records request made to the State Police Commission which hears all disciplinary appeals by state troopers, we learned that Guillory has retained Baton Rouge attorney Jill Craft to handle his appeal. That appeal is scheduled to be heard on Feb. 11. (Belated editor’s note: our public records request to the State Police Commission was for appeal records for Chris Ivey, Ryan Roberts, Ronald Picou and Brett McCloud. Our records on the Chris Guillory appeal were obtained through separate but confidential sources.)
The letter of reprimand was signed by Lt. Col. Charles Dupuy who serves as Assistant Superintendent of State Police under Superintendent Mike Edmonson.
Here is Dupuy’s letter (click on images to enlarge):
In his letter, Dupuy referred to allegations first addressed by LouisianaVoice that Trooper Jimmy Rogers was allowed to work LACE overtime and off-duty escort details—all “while serving a disciplinary action in the form of a reduction in pay which spanned from December 27, 2010, to February 5, 2012.”
LACE, which stands for Local Area Compensated Enforcement Program, is a program by which state troopers are paid by local jurisdictions for extra traffic enforcement (read: quotas).
Rogers was disciplined by letter of Nov. 19, 2010, by Edmonson to a 240-hour reduction in pay (a 10 percent reduction for 30 pay periods, or 60 weeks. That represented a total penalty of more than $4,800 but LouisianaVoice said in August that there was speculation that he more than made up for that reduction by being allowed to work overtime on LACE and off-duty escorts of oversized loads.
“A review of his (Rogers’s) biweekly timesheets confirmed that Trooper Rogers worked LACE overtime and off-duty escorts/details while serving the reduction in pay,” Dupuy said in his letter of November 13. “An Internal Affairs investigation was conducted to determine why he was allowed to work overtime.
“On September 22, 2010, you were promoted to the rank of captain to serve as commander of Troop D. As the Captain of Troop D, on November 29, 2010, you personally delivered the above described disciplinary letter to Trooper Jimmy Rogers and had knowledge of the reduction in pay imposed on him,” Dupuy wrote.
Dupuy said that from January 6, 2011, to August 9, 2011, “Trooper Rogers worked 16 LACE overtime details in violation of (policy) in effect at that time. From January 16, 2012, to January 26, 2012, Trooper Rogers worked four off-duty escorts.”
Guillory told Internal Affairs investigators he was unaware of the policy, according to Dupuy’s letter, and that he failed to inform Rogers’s immediate supervisor that Rogers was serving a disciplinary action.
That, said Dupuy, placed Guillory in violation of the State Police Procedure Order which constituted unsatisfactory performance, which says in part:
Craft, in her Nov. 24 letter, put the State Police Commission on notice of appeal. Here is her letter:
She said in that letter that Guillory’s reprimand “is not warranted,” based not on his violation of procedures, but on a couple of technicalities.
She said that during the time period in question, LSP issued several paychecks to Rogers. “At no time did LSP take any timely action regarding its payment to Trooper Rogers of the overtime pay. Indeed, not until over 4 years later did the agency acknowledge any error on its part.”
Craft also said LSP did not impose its discipline within the prescribed 60-day time limit from the beginning of its investigation to announcement of the punishment. LSP can request an extension of time, however, and one source said it was believed that such extension was requested in a timely manner.
“The investigation began on August 12, 2015, and…October 20, 2015, was the deadline for the imposition of disciplinary action,” she wrote. Pursuant to state statute, she said, the disciplinary action imposed on November 13 “is untimely and thus null and void as a matter of law.”
In another matter, it would appear the LSTA hierarchy are beginning to circle the wagons in defense of growing criticism from within over the board’s recently revealed campaign contributions. An attempt was made by LSTA incoming President James “Jay” O’Quinn to turn retired state trooper Carl Bennett away from a meeting of LSTA affiliate Troop L on Monday night in Mandeville.
“I was there a whole two minutes when Jay O’Quinn asked me to step outside and informed me the meeting was for dues paying members and I wasn’t a member and had to leave,” Bennett said. “I told him that I was there to find out some information about this back dues business to re-join and that I intended to act as a guest and not participate in the discussion or the meeting. He told me I had to leave anyway. I made it clear to him that I…had to go there (to the meeting) because our retiree representative doesn’t respond to us. Retiree David Brabham then stood up and told the whole bunch of them that if I had to leave, he was leaving, too but (that) they hadn’t heard the last from him.”
Bennett said “It sort of hurts to be ejected from the Troop building that you spent the biggest part of your life in—especially when the ones who didn’t want me there were either not even born or toddlers when I was a trooper there.”
Retired trooper Jerry Patrick said he was an affiliate president for six years “and I never turned a retiree away.”
Posted in Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Ethics, State Police | 16 Comments »
Devall and Poe Investigations Compared
Poe Brothers Investigation
Jason and Brandon Poe are brothers who were both Louisiana State Troopers. They were on a hunting trip together on their land in Tensas Parish. They saw what they perceived to be a crime in progress (trespassing and illegal hunting).
They were in a secluded area knowing there was no way they could call for local law enforcement before the subjects left the area. They decided to investigate. They had problems with trespassers and poaching in the past with the two subjects who were suspected of trespassing and illegal hunting. One of the subjects ran away after one of the Poe brothers flagged down the vehicle while he was on foot.
The subjects ended up complaining to someone about the Poe brothers although they never actually filed a complaint form with LSP. LouisianaVoice obtained the documents which indicated Colonel Edmonson was making calls about the incident the following day. Sources indicate Edmonson’s early involvement is not normal.
The Poe brothers ended up being cleared of the allegations made but were still punished with a formal letter of reprimand. A letter of reprimand is a permanent disciplinary action. The reprimand was for violating two internal state police policies; failing to report being involved in an altercation and taking police action while off duty. The subjects in the investigation refused to cooperate with internal affairs. The investigation into the Poe brothers by internal affairs was at the behest of Edmonson. Sources indicate the two subjects were related to the sheriff.
LouisianaVoice received the following reports on the Poe brothers investigation from Louisiana State Police.
CAUTION: ALL THREE REPORTS CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE.
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Devall Investigation
Captain Kevin Devall is a different story. Mr. Michael Gahagan filed a formal complaint against Devall after an incident at a hunting camp. LouisianaVoice covered this complaint in a previous story. Gahagan alleged he was stopped, assaulted, illegally detained, disarmed, transported against his wishes, and patted down by Devall. LouisianaVoice received the investigation file in this case as well.
Gahagan made allegations that information was leaked by internal affairs to the effect that they were going to cover for Devall. The investigation file indicated there would be a follow up in reference to the leak but none was documented in the files. The allegation of covering for Devall was confirmed by the investigation file itself after speaking to experienced investigators who reported this was a one sided investigation that failed to cover the elements of the alleged offenses. Devall was asked three questions in a polygraph. They were:
The documentation did not show Devall was asked about pertinent aspects of the allegations such as:
These are very important factors in determining an illegal detention. Even with the lack of evidence supporting a thorough investigation, Devall admitted to disturbing conduct. Devall admitted he blocked the only exit with his truck to prevent Gahagan from being able to leave. Devall reported Gahagan parked his truck near his stand and, “inconvenienced me where I couldn’t hunt.” While it may be annoying, it is not a crime. When Gahagan confronted Devall about moving his truck so he could leave, Devall admitted calling him a stupid m—-f—-r “at least 20 times,” according to the Internal Affairs investigative report. Gahagan reported Devall identified himself as a State Trooper. This combined with his truck being blocked in and being called a m—–f—-r at least 20 times would lead a reasonable person to believe they were not free to leave which is the legal standard for establishing a detention. If there was no crime suspected by Devall, this detention was illegal.
Even though this investigation was one sided, it was established blocking Gahagan with his truck and calling him a stupid m—–f—-r at least 20 times was not deserving of any permanent record. Devall was given a letter of counseling which is not a permanent record.
A letter of reprimand can be taken into account with considering promotions; a letter of counseling may not. In fact, a letter of counseling may not be appealed because it is not a permanent record and it may be removed from the personnel file.
Devall is the son of long time Hammond Police Chief Roddy Devall.
Here are excerpts from the Kevin Duvall investigation:
Comparing Punishment
The Poe brothers took legal action when they suspected a crime was being committed and were permanently punished. Devall took apparent illegal, unprofessional, and discourteous action in response to being inconvenienced and was not permanently punished. This is an obvious disparity. The common denominator is the relationship to politically connected individuals. No wonder Edmonson is able to get the endorsement of Police Chiefs and the Sheriffs Association.
Posted in Corruption, Ethics, State Police | 10 Comments »
