New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt, right, and NIPD Assistant Police Chief Brandon Williams, center, listen to moderator Bishop Jules Anderson at Monday’s meeting. 

New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt and New Iberia Police Department Assistant Police Chief Brandon Williams addressed a small crowd Monday afternoon as local residents look forward to the incoming NIPD. 

The event was held by A New Chapter/PUSH, a local organizations that provides holistic support to those struggling in the community. The Rev. James Broussard opened up the forum and then led the way for Bishop Jules Anderson to moderate.  

The event focused on the youth of New Iberia, and how the NIPD will act in the community given that summer months usually lend themselves to more crime. 

“I was a youth at one time, you were at one time and we know that our parents kept us busy because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” Broussard said. 

Enforcing the city’s curfew and mitigating truancy were some of the main subjects tackled in relation to the main topic. DeCourt’s main point during the event was that enforcing city laws under a city police department will be a requirement, not a request. 

“I’m proud of every officer we’ve hired. We’ve interviewed over 170 people and we’re able to pick quality people and get a diverse department,” DeCourt said. “I know we’ve got to turn our community around.

“Curfew, loitering, truancy all those things are related,” the mayor said. “We’re moving from ‘request’ to ‘require,’ we’re having accountability.” 

The city’s police department will start working in New Iberia on July 1, the same time the city’s contract for law enforcement ends with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office. In the meantime, DeCourt said city government is working with the Iberia Parish School Board to reduce issues like truancy, as well as hiring employees for the police department that DeCourt said he was proud of. 

Williams joked the “fanfare” the NIPD has been getting before it goes live will most likely end as it begins to address serious issues in the local community. Williams added that local residents will always know the reasons why the department does what it does. 

DeCourt also said that working with local businesses to put up loitering signs has been in the works to deter some problems, as well as enforcing other city ordinances that have been ignored. 

“We’re going to do our job, be professional, and just know we’re going to articulate why we did what we did,” Williams said.