The Port Barre police chief and many residents are in a battle with the mayor and town aldermen as town officials will soon vote on an ordinance that would heavily affect the police department.
PORT BARRE, La. (KLFY) -- The Port Barre police chief and many residents are in a battle with the mayor and town aldermen. This comes as town officials will soon vote on an ordinance that would heavily affect the police department.
The ordinance proposes to limit the number of police officers in Port Barre to eight. Port Barre Mayor John Ardoin supports the ordinance. The mayor said for a town of only 2,200 people, eight officers is enough, and the cut will help the town's budget.
"I think eight officers is plenty enough to be able to patrol this town," Ardoin said.
Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux called the cap on police officers "ridiculous and unnecessary," and argues his department needs at least ten officers.
"It's a safety hazard for them, and it's also a safety hazard for the people that we serve," Boudreaux said. "They have exhausted, tired police officers in their communities. That's not safe at all."
Boudreaux calls the ordinance unnecessary because the mayor and town aldermen already have to approve the police chief's hires. That's something Ardoin wants to stop.
"Every time he wants a new officer or more officers, it's always a battle," Ardoin said. "So, if we put an ordinance in, then it's no longer a battle. Then this is the law. This is the way we'll operate."
He said he surveyed towns of similar sizes in Louisiana and found many police departments worked well with only eight officers.
Boudreaux said his department has more programs and more dispatch calls than those towns, and called the effort "a power play by the mayor."
"I think he's just doing this out of vengeance," Boudreaux said. "He's not a fan of mine, for sure. He and I just don't get along. And you know, I think he's just abusing his authority by doing so, and I think this is just an abuse of his position. That's all it is."
A Facebook group called "Back the Port Barre Police Department" has over 250 followers calling for the mayor and aldermen to vote the ordinance down.
Ardoin believes the supporters don't have the right information.
"Nobody has really any idea about the operation of the town," Ardoin said. "We're doing what we think is best for the town, whether the people of the town believe it or not."
Boudreaux said comments made by the mayor at town hall meetings in May and June make him uneasy.
"We have too many police officers in this town. We pay far too much, far too much for police protection in this town, according to our population," the mayor said in one meeting.
In another meeting, a resident asks, "You want to bring us down to four officers? Do what you got to do." The mayor responds, "I will."
While the battle continues as the vote approaches, Boudreaux said he hopes the aldermen will listen to their constituents.
"If any alderman votes for this unnecessary ordinance, they are no longer the voice of the people. They become the voice and the strongarm of the mayor," Boudreaux said.
The mayor and five town aldermen will vote on the ordinance on Tuesday.
