Five people have applied to be Lafayette Police Chief.
Former chief Judith Estorge stepped down in May, and Lafayette Mayor-President promised a national search - but all five applicants are men from south Louisiana, our media partners at The Advocate report.
The candidates are Dorian R. Brabham, Dana T. Coleman, Herbert Dobler, LeJon M. Roberts and Paul A. Trouard.
Brabham is a sergeant with the Lafayette Police Department.
Coleman, is the former Houma police chief who currently works as a special agent for the state Attorney General.
Dobler most recently worked as an attorney for the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office.
Roberts is a captain and commander for the New Orleans Police Department.
Trouard is the interim Lafayette police chief.
Here is more information on the candidates from The Advocate's story. To read the full story with all the details, click here.
Brabham began working for the Lafayette Police Department in 2002 as a patrol officer and worked his way up to a supervisory sergeant position. He has experience investigating domestic violence crimes, recruiting, field training, grant writing and supervisory positions over narcotics, night patrol and emergency response teams. He also served as a staff sergeant for the U.S. Army from 2001 to 2012.
Coleman began working for the Houma Police Department in 1995 as a patrol officer and climbed his way up to the highest position in the agency before retiring in February 2023. Soon after retiring, he began working for the Attorney General, where he investigates crimes associated with public corruption and those where the state of Louisiana is a victim.
Dobler has worked for a number of Acadiana law enforcement organizations. He began working as a corrections sergeant for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office in 2003 until 2005, when he took a position as a patrol officer for the Church Point Police Department. In 2006, he took a position as a patrol officer for the Arnaudville Police Department. In 2007, he took a patrol position at the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office, where he climbed the ranks to corrections deputy, corrections shift lieutenant, assistant warden, bailiff supervisor and associate counsel. He left the position in June.
Roberts began working for the New Orleans Police Department in 1998 and has climbed the ranks to a supervisory role over the day-to-day field operations at the agency. He oversees 86 patrol and mounted officers, two civilian officers and 27 horses. He is the first African American police captain of the city's 8th District, which includes the French Quarter and Superdome.
Trouard began working at the Lafayette Police Department in 1997 as a patrol officer and climbed through the ranks being named the interim police chief in May. He has experience as a detective of financial crimes, violent crime and homicide, and he became a captain over precinct 1 in northwest Lafayette before being named assistant chief in April and interim police chief in May.
Trouard is the seventh chief the department has had since January 2020. He is the only one who was appointed by Mayor President Monique Boulet. All the others served under former Mayor President Josh Guillory.
Estorge was appointed chief by Guillory in October 2022. She followed Monte Potier, who was appointed interim chief in October 2021 and Sgt. Wayne Griffin, who also was appointed interim chief in October 2021 but served in that job only two weeks. Griffin was appointed to replace Chief Thomas Glover, who was hired by Guillory and then fired 10 months later. Glover took over from interim chief Lt. Scott Morgan, who replaced Chief Toby Aguillard, who Guillory had asked to resign when he was sworn in back in January 2020.
