Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kinder council approves police hires and promotion amid questions about candidate’s K-9
Summary
The Town of Kinder approved multiple police personnel moves April 6, including hiring John Cummings as a full-time officer over one dissenting vote after council questions about a past K-9 death; the council also accepted a resignation, hired a dispatcher, and promoted Sgt. Det. Marie Manuel to assistant chief.
The Town of Kinder on April 6 approved several personnel actions for the Kinder Police Department, including hiring John Cummings as a full-time officer despite one council member’s objections related to a past K-9 death.
Mayor Wayland LaFargue opened the personnel portion of the meeting after accepting a previously filed resignation. Chief of Police Kevin Doise asked the council to accept the resignation of Angela South; Councilman Jerry Nevils moved to accept, Councilwoman Angie VanNorman seconded, and the council approved the resignation unanimously.
Doise then recommended converting part-time officer Taylor Jackson to full time; the council approved that hire 4-0. Doise next recommended hiring John Cummings, whom he described as having 18 years of law-enforcement experience and K-9 certification. Councilwoman Angie VanNorman asked Cummings to explain a reported K-9 incident in Rayville; Cummings replied, "Yes ma'am, he died of heat exposure off duty and we did a restitution to the sheriff's department and it cleared out. ... Yes ma'am in 2016." After discussion, the council voted 3-1 to hire Cummings as a full-time officer, with VanNorman opposing.
The council also voted 4-0 to hire Samantha Joubert as a full-time dispatcher and to promote Sgt. Det. Marie Manuel to assistant chief. During a question from a member of the audience about whether a not-yet-hired person can issue tickets while training, Town Attorney Michael Holmes and Chief Doise clarified that Cummings had been a reserve officer while riding with department staff; Holmes said that, if empowered as a reserve sworn officer, the department’s actions raised no apparent legal issue and that the ticket in question will be transferred to the 33rd Judicial District Court for the district attorney to decide.
Chief Doise also asked the council to prepare an ordinance addressing skateboard-type motorized scooters, citing traffic-safety concerns (operators running stop signs, riding on highways at night without lights). He requested a joint service agreement with Allen Parish Fire District #4 to link first-responder communications for faster response times.
The personnel votes taken at the meeting were recorded as: accept resignation of Angela South (motion passed 4-0), hire Taylor Jackson full time (4-0), hire John Cummings full time (3-1), hire Samantha Joubert full time (4-0), and promote Marie Manuel to assistant chief (4-0). The council did not take formal action on the proposed scooter ordinance or on the joint service agreement request during the meeting.
The council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for May 4, when other items on the agenda — including a draft vape-shop ordinance introduced as a placeholder — may be considered further.
