The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office has finished its investigation into the Youngsville Police Department.
Back in July 2023, the city of Youngsville requested the investigation after receiving reports of misconduct, allegedly by the former chief of police, Rickey Boudreaux. He resigned in August, saying that the constant allegations of wrong-doing were interfering with his ability to do his job. To read about that, click here.
The report, which you can read for yourself by scrolling down, looked at several allegations: missing property/evidence; juvenile citations; fuel usage issues; allegations of a woman living on YPD property; and alleged meth found in the police department.
Bottom line, LPSO investigators found a disorganized department that either lacked checks and balances or didn't have any to begin with; even when there were adequate policies, nobody was following them.
"The conclusion of this investigation clearly indicates that the practices commonly followed by members and the Command Staff of the Youngsville Police Department could be described as disorganized, chaotic and borders on gross negligence," the report states. "The reported absence of then Chief Boudreaux on various occasions only contributed to the (mayhem)."
The department's handling of evidence "can only be described as extraordinarily careless and in a haphazard manner with less than adequate documentation or storage security," the report states.
"Numerous hours were spent reviewing documentation. That documentation included, but was not limited to, departmental policies, evidence records, vouchers, incident reports, citations, purchase orders, receipts and audits," the report states. "Additional information was gathered by onsite observations."
The investigators contacted every Youngsville officer, including reserve officers, to see if they had any information about the accusations, the report states.
"Only two came forward with allegations that had been previously handled internally or by other law enforcement agencies, which included the Louisiana State Police," the report states.
One allegation was that a person was arrested on a distinctive bike, which was impounded. When he went back to get his bike, it was missing - so the city had to buy him a new one, the allegation goes. Someone said they saw that bike at the chief's house during a holiday party. The records didn't support this allegation, the report states.
Another allegation was that an officer saw the chief loading a table saw into a trailer attached to the chief's unit. The saw was evidence in an active investigation at the time, the allegation goes. That officer confronted the chief and put the saw back into evidence, but later that day the chief went back and put it again into his vehicle.
Investigators found that a spare key to the evidence locker in question was kept in the chief's desk, in a sealed envelope. That envelope had been opened, they found, and they also found that surveillance cameras of the locker were not recording. The locker itself was full of items and some weren't marked, and no inventory had been done since 2015, the report states.
An inventory was done in August 2023, and several items were missing, including a miter saw, an air compressor, an electric hedge trimmer, a tool set, an impact driver, a plate joiner and a woman's pink bicycle. The table saw in question wasn't missing, the investigation found.
But there's "a severe lack of internal controls, with no system of checks and balances" in the department, but even when there were they weren't followed, the investigation found. Inventories of evidence were required monthly, but hadn't been done since 2015.
"The investigation was presented with several challenges in connection with trying to assess whether any person acted with the intent of distorting the results of an investigation by removing or altering evidence," the report states.
The record system is "inadequate to nonexistent," and the evidence locker is "overfilled and in disarray from top to bottom." The report recommends a full audit of all evidence, that lost or missing evidence be documented, and that all policies be followed. It also recommends that the department immediately report any issues that might impact criminal cases to the District Attorney; in particular there's a reference to "Brady" material - which refers to information that the prosecution must report to the defense because it might help the defense win their case.
A similar disorganized mess was found when the LPSO investigators looked at juvenile citations. The allegation was that these citations weren't being sent to the District Attorney as state law requires. LPSO investigators found more than 200 were never received by the DA, the report states. The process the department was using to get those citations to the DA was too haphazard, leaving numerous chances "for citations to be lost, mishandled or pulled, with no accountability at any point."
The report states that the findings were forwarded to the DA's office, in light of state laws covering malfeasance in office, proper disposation of traffic citations and illegal cancellation of traffic citations.
The investigators looked into fuel usage, as there was the allegation of inappropriate fuel usage from 2017 until 2023. The investigators determined that Boudreaux got a vehicle allowance in 2016, and in 2017 he began submitting his fuel expense to the city for payment. The city paid those bills.
There is an auxiliary fuel tank located at the police department, but no records exist as to what fuel was removed from the tank, when or by whom. There's a policy that says it's just for emergencies, but no one monitored the use of the fuel.
Another allegation was that a woman was living in a portable building at the police department, providing lawn services. When the city found out, they told the YPD to remove her. The police department was using the building to store records, and the city couldn't determine when she moved in. She had access to all areas of the YPD except the evidence locker. In addition to living there, she was paid for law services via purchase orders submitted by Boudreaux, the report states. That woman "is known to be involved in criminal activity," the report states.
Again, the report states, there were no checks and balances, and no accountability for the purchase orders.
The last item investigated, was the meth that was found in Boudreaux's office. It was found on the floor, the report states. The LPSO narcotics division conducted the investigation and turned over their findings to the DA.
Here's the report:
