Arnaundville Police Department
Prêt à protéger, fier de servir
Prêt à protéger, fier de servir
Ready to protect. Proud to Serve
Ready to protect. Proud to Serve
The Chief's Blog
The Chief's Blog
The Tide Will Turn
The Tide Will Turn
November 17, 2021
As we enter the holiday season – the season of “giving”, I reflect on the last year as your Chief. It has been a challenging year, both professionally and personally, but because I am a man of faith, I have to believe that my Maker is ultimately in control.
As a Police Chief managing a small rural department, my biggest challenge has been recruiting and retaining quality personnel. Arnaudville suffers the same fate and the same struggles as almost every other law enforcement agency in the country. We must recognize those elements that are impacting our efforts, and fight against some of the negative attitudes and perceptions we get from some of our citizens, from municipal officials, and from within our own ranks. We must acknowledge that there exists leadership that does not have the best interest of our citizens in mind; leadership that often turns its back on the brave and committed men and women who carry the badge and wear the uniform. There are invisible forces behind the scenes who would change the fundamental direction and values we have fought for for generations.
My over two decades serving in law enforcement has obviously been met with moments of challenge – Hurricane Katrina, big city crime, facing the tragedy and sorrow of fallen officers, meeting families of victims, and more – all to be anticipated as a police officer. What I never anticipated was a national movement that vilifies, disregards, dismisses and destroys the lives and livelihoods of decent, honest and hard-working law enforcement officers. A top-to-bottom movement that ultimately results in more crime, more disorder, and more chaos in communities and trauma to innocent citizens. As in every such movement, we always see a course correction, and I am optimistic that we will see the tide turn.
As I reflect on a personal level, I count the many family and friends who have been touched by a global pandemic that left us nowhere to hide and no immunity from devastating loss. My own brother succumbed to Covid-19, as did many of his fellow nursing home residents. Otherwise healthy family members, young and old did not escape the clutches of Covid. Attempting to understand the rationale for restrictions, mandates, and closures left more confusion, division and distrust. Covid took lives, but also took much more from us – our compassion, tolerance, empathy and trust. We are left as cynical, suspicious and mistrustful citizens choosing sides, and isolating and ostracizing those who dare to contradict or question.
But, as we move through all of this, we are left with our faith. Faith that tells us that while we are all on borrowed time, the best is still ahead of us. Life is constantly renewing, evolving and transforming into something better. We only need to wait, because the course will be corrected. The pendulum will swing the other way.
For those who can never see beyond their own selfishness or greed, or who fail to believe life is about giving and not taking, I have pity for them. The misery and hurt they inflict on others will come back to rest on their own souls. For the majority of us, the holiday season - the season of “giving” is but a time when our challenges, our pain and our struggles are overshadowed by the good we can do for others.
Happy Holidays, Arnaudville!
Blog
Standing America Back Up, One Community At A Time
| Posted on December 11, 2015 at 5:39 PM |
I was honored last night to be among some of our community’s
most patriotic heroes. The Arnaudville VFW dinner pays tribute to service men and women, veterans, first responders and law
enforcement. The highlight of the night
was watching Captain Clay Higgins, St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Public Information Officer, and Crime Stoppers spokesman, receive the Law Enforcement Person of the Year Award. His celebrity, something he never sought, is
overshadowed when you meet him, by his big heart and spirit, his passion and
love of the job, and his authenticity and genuine desire to serve two
principles: his belief in the
constitution, and his belief in the power of redemption
for the criminal, who he sees as an equal in the eyes of God. He spoke to the crowd with humility, landing
his word, characteristically dry, with a steady cadence on a room full of hushed listeners. As I sat and listened as Captain Higgins delivered a moving
and inspiring speech, I could not help but reflect on what his message meant to
a small community like Arnaudville. I’ve
sat through many speeches, but this message was clearly meant to spur people to
action. He cited that America has fallen, and it is up to its citizens to “stand
America back up”. He gave an abbreviation
of this talk a few nights before at the Arnaudville Neighborhood Watch meeting,
speaking to a crowd of 40 citizens, the largest ever. In my judgment, it’s not enough to love one’s country; it’s
not sufficient to give awards or applaud those who completed a task or
performed a duty. While all the
recognition is good and validates the efforts and intentions of the recipient,
enough will only be enough when every citizen, young and old, regardless of religion,
race or gender turns their expressed patriotism into active citizenship. In our last election, a majority of registered voters did
not vote. Why? In the latest research, Louisiana still has not
reached the national percentage of high school graduation rates; an astounding
number of our middle school students are still not achieving math and reading
proficiency levels that will foster academic success. Almost half of our adults can be considered
functionally illiterate. Our state is at the top in the nation for domestic
violence, infant mortality rate, and childhood poverty. Poverty is creeping up
on the once secure middle class, with higher unemployment rates, smaller
trained workforce, and an industry of predatory lenders that preys on the financially
strapped working poor. My wife, the
director of the St. Landry-Evangeline United Way managed the recent FoodNet
Food Drive for St. Landry Parish, and food donations were down by half – 4 tons
collected as opposed to 8 tons the previous year – to be distributed to nine
local pantries. While the need is
greater, the contributions were lower. How does this litany of ailments relate to patriotism? I’ll tell you. The strength of a country lies
in an active, engaged citizenry – a citizenry that relies on each other to find
solutions, to look out for one another, to offer more than sympathy or pity,
but who reads to or tutors struggling students, helps train people for
employable skills, who cooks a little extra for a neighbor in need, who studies
the candidates and the issues to make informed decisions, who takes their
freedoms and right to vote seriously, to join the neighborhood watch to help
the police and see that crime goes down or doesn’t get a chance to take
root. While we wave our flags and
proudly proclaim our patriotism, the country thirsts for the quenching rain of
action and activism. Find a need, see if
you have the capacity to fill it, the talent to share, the voice to be
heard. When we couple our love of
country with our willingness to engage, America will be “stood back up”. |
Categories: The Working Chief
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6 Comments
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Albert Einstine
11:41 AM on April 4, 2019
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Albert Einstine
11:41 AM on April 4, 2019
You share really interesting news which I never read on any website. Thanks for sharing here.
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3:59 PM on June 10, 2019
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