Mayor outlines progress on NIPD

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, November 8, 2017

New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt laid out an overview at Tuesday night’s New Iberia City Council meeting of the work his administration and the City Council is doing to create a New iberia Police Department in the coming months. 

From the looks of it, it’s going to be a busy year until July 1 when the department goes live. On the agenda was an introductory budget ordinance to transfer $200,000 from the city’s disaster fund to pay for the salaries of police administration in the short-term until tax revenue comes in. The fund has about $525,000 in it, and the measure was unanimously approved.

That money will pay the salary for a police chief, which DeCourt hopes to get ratified and appointed as soon as possible. The city placed advertisements in Sunday and today’s copies of The Daily Iberian advertising for a chief. The ordinance also will provide funding for the city to rent a space to store records that will be moved out of City Hall’s first floor.  

In addition, it will pay for an assistant chief, major and secretary. DeCourt also has established a hiring committee that will provide recommendations during the process of building a department that the future chief will eventually take over.

The City Council unanimously approved preliminary resolution to float a $2 million bond that will be used to pay for startup equipment costs for the NIPD at the meeting as well. The bond will be used to cover upfront costs like uniforms, equipment and badges. 

DeCourt gave a long list of what his administration and the council will be working on for the next few months.

“Many months lie ahead to begin building a department that we can be proud of and that we promised our community,” he said.

Some of the work in the near future includes adopting a policy manual for the NIPD, approving a mission statement and first-year goals; coordinating efforts with the city’s insurance carrier and hiring a consultant; designing uniforms, badges and cars; obtaining radio frequency from the state; getting clearance from the state for the NIPD; filing necessary paperwork; pricing uniforms and shopping for vehicles; selecting radios; outfitting vehicles; getting employees trained on the CAD system; ordering badges and body cameras; designing letterhead; contracting a drug screener; pricing insurance and drawing up contracts for the Iberia Parish Jail; acquiring 911 dispatchers; acquiring and training a dog, and coordinating the the 16th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, City Court and District Court on policies and procedures.

DeCourt said he is in the process of creating applications that will eventually be available for those interested in positions at the NIPD. Finalizing a manpower chart, creating policies for day-today activities, establishing vacation and overtime policies, conducting the interview process and fitting employees are on the to-do list.

So far, DeCourt said he has received at least 20 resumes from interested applicants for the NIPD.

Once the budget transfer is cleared, the next step will be hiring a police chief. DeCourt will ultimately appoint a prospective chief to go before the New Iberia City Council for ratification.

The hiring committee for the department will be made up of people with experience in Municipal Civil Service, as well as New Iberia residents who have a vested interest in the department. City Attorney Jeff Simon said the committee’s role ultimately will be providing recommendations.

“I think they have experience and wisdom, but they don’t have authority,” Simon said. “It’s not a committee that’s given a specific job to report to the mayor and council. These are just useful people who can assist in the hiring process. Ultimately it’s going to be recommendations to the mayor and eventually the chief.”

DeCourt said he hopes to get the $2 million in bond money in February. The half-cent sales tax that was voted on in October will go into effect in January but the city won’t see revenue from it until April.