In a perfect world, the selection of Shreveport’s new police chief would be AFTER the Nov. vote on the three bond propositions.
Shreveport Police Department (SPD) provisional chief Ben Raymond has been an essential member of the team that has explained the bond propositions at 4 community center meetings.At 3 of these, he was very warmly received.
Citizens attending the other meeting were mad at all of the speakers because of the actions/inaction of prior administrations.
Fortunately, there is not a bond proposition citizen meeting this Thursday. The next will be on Thurs. Sept 26 .at the Airport Park Community Center.
The $64 question is who will be representing the Shreveport Police Department at that meeting
And if not Raymond, how will the mayor explain the change and how will it be perceived.
More importantly, how will the change to a new police chief be received by concerned citizens who are seriously reviewing the bond propositions. And especially those who are undecided.
The reality is that most citizens think of Raymond and the SPD synonymously.
And they probably do as well on the proposition that includes funding for police substations and a new central police office.
Add to this the nonbinding recommendations of the mayor’s advisory committee and the push by some to have a black police chief.
As Mayor Perkins learned at West Point and in 3 overseas combat tours (the last as a commander), leadership is not for the timid.
What he is learning now is that politics is not always about what is "right."
But he probably realized that long ago growing up in Cedar Grove as a poor African American in a single parent household, hiding under his bed when he heard gunshots, and playing on streets with no curbs or gutters.
