Newly elected New Iberia City Marshal Dickie Fremin met with The Daily Iberian’s Matthew Louviere to discuss his background and plans for the Marshal’s Office.

Q: What is your law enforcement background?

“In 1975, I joined the United States Air Force and I became a Security Policeman in July of 1975. I was in the Air Force for four years, and in December of 1978 I joined the New Iberia Police Department. I worked myself up through the ranks and became a patrol captain and retired from the NIPD in July 2004.

From there I went to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and I worked my way up through the ranks to again become patrol captain. I retired with the IPSO in January 2020. My law enforcement career technically started in 1975 until I retired in 2020. I was also in the Air Force Reserves and I retired with 25 years, all in law enforcement.”

What made you decide to run for City Marshal?

“When Vic Delcambre (former New Iberia City Marshal who served from 1979 to 2018) passed away, I was approached by several people to run for City Marshal. They said that I would make an excellent candidate, but I told them that I wasn’t ready to retire from the Sheriff’s Office, so I wasn’t going to run. In order to run for that position I would’ve had to resign from the Sheriff’s Office.

I retired in 2020, and then the incident with Tony Migues happened, where he was indicted on some felony charges, so I said ‘here is my opportunity to run.’”

What are your short term plans, things you hope to accomplish in your first year?

“My immediate plan is to have the office open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and make it more accessible to the public. Currently, from what I understand, the guys come in, take care of what they need to do, and when they are finished they go home for the day. They’re all part time employees.

From there, I want to bring credibility to the office. I’m sure, with Tony (Miguez), it brought some questions into people’s minds as to what is going to happen next and if the next city Marshal will do that. The hardest part is trying to get people to show up for court or come in for some of the warrants that we have. I think there are currently 2,100 failure to appear warrants for the New Iberia City Court, so we’re going to work on trying to get those people to come in so we can get their cases over with and generate some money for the marshal’s office.

The marshal’s office gets their money strictly from the court costs from convictions in court. Of course, they also get a little bit from garnishments and from the civil side, like evictions.”

What about your long term plans? What do you envision for the Marshal’s Office when you leave it?

“That’s a hard question, because we’re in such a bind right now, financially. There’s not very much money being generated, especially since COVID. They aren’t seeing very many people in court and people weren’t coming because of COVID, so the money just isn’t coming in.

Long term is possibly getting a few full-time people to work for the Marshal’s Office to see about executing some of the warrants through the Marshal’s Office instead of getting assistance from the New Iberia Police Department and the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office. I would also find ways to get money in the budget to run and staff the office.”

What do you think the role of the Marshal’s Office is in the community?

“The number one leading role is to be accessible to the public. The Marshal’s Office’s main job is to provide security and execute the orders of the court. I plan on working with Chief D’Albor, we’ve had a good relationship in the past when I was with the Sheriff’s Office. Many of the police officers who work for the New Iberia Police Department worked with me either through the Sheriff’s Office or through the Police Department when it was up and running. I have a good working relationship with the IPSO, so I’m going to put myself out there to assist them in whatever way I can.”

Do you have anything to say to the citizens of New Iberia and the people who voted for you?

“First off, I’d like to thank the citizens of New Iberia who voted for me and elected me as their next City Marshal. I don’t plan on disappointing them.

I would also like to thank all my supporters and hard workers in my campaign. My beautiful wife, Dawn Aucoin Fremin, and my children, Christopher and Caroline, for standing alongside me during this long campaign. I would also like to thank my hard-working campaign manager, Mike Wattigny, for his expert advice.