Higgins resigns from Sheriff's Office

Capt. Clay Higgins quit his job at the St. Landry Sheriff's Office in a disagreement with Sheriff Bobby Guidroz over the tone of his Crime Stoppers performances.
Higgins announced his resignation as the office's public information officer and St. Landry Parish Crime Stoppers spokesman, a job he has held for almost 16 months, Monday on the St. Landry Parish courthouse steps.
"I've asked y'all here today with a heavy heart to advise of my resignation from the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office," Higgins said as he stood before the steps of the parish courthouse in Opelousas. "I have met with the sheriff. He has accepted my resignation. I was not forced to resign. The sheriff didn't ask for my resignation. Rather, I have turned in my badge as a matter of conscience."
Guidroz said, in a news release, "The public needs to remember the department public information officer is a spokesperson for the sheriff and represents the sheriff’s words, thoughts and message. If Clay Higgins cannot agree with my words, thoughts and message, then he is correct in resigning his position."
The sheriff said Higgins had resigned his position with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff Department because according to Higgins, "He disagreed with my orders."
“My orders to Higgins was to, ‘tone down’ his unprofessional comments on our weekly Crime Stoppers messages and had nothing to do with the Gremlins video that appeared on the networks," he said. "I agree with the Gremlins video. First of all; I repeatedly told him to stop saying things like, ‘you have no brain cells, or making comments that were totally disrespectful and demeaning.'
"Second; Clay Higgins appeared on the cover of a local magazine in full dress uniform without my approval and permission. That too is something he didn’t like me controlling.”
About two weeks ago, a Crime Stoppers segment directed at ending street gang violence received positive and negative criticism from around the country and world. Following the airing of the segment, the American Civil Liberties Union forwarded a statement regarding the video to KATC, taking issue with some the things the police officer said in the broadcast. On Feb. 21, several family members of accused Gremlins gang members met in Abbeville, voicing their disapproval of the segment.
Last week, while Higgins was away on vacation, Guidroz announced the videos would be more moderate in the future, and he took full responsibility for the particular video segment.
Higgins joined the Opelousas Police Department in 2004 and transferred to the sheriff's department four years ago. The law officer worked the night shift on patrol for 11 years and also worked as a SWAT team member. In October of last year, Guidroz asked Higgins to take the post of PIO for the department and with that position came the Crime Stoppers assignment. Higgins' Crime Stoppers segments garnered reactions from the around the globe, and in his popularity, some called him a Cajun John Wayne.
Higgins said he will continue to serve as constable of St. Landry Parish District 8. The law officer also formed a non-profit, Capt. Higgins Gear, to help fund homeless shelter in the parish, and he said the endeavor would continue following his resignation.
A crowd gathered outside the courthouse as Higgins spoke to the media.
He said, "I begin each day from bended knee, but I kneel to our savior. I will not kneel to violent street gangs. I will not kneel to murderers or the parents that raised them. I will not kneel to a discredited wannabe black activist that really does not have the best interest of his own people in mind who just wants to make a profit. I will not kneel before bureaucrats in Baton Rouge or Washington or anywhere else that they have forgotten why they wear a badge and who they serve."
Higgins said he would rather die than sacrifice his principles.
"I would give my life, leave my wife without a husband, my children without a daddy, rather than kneel to the very forces of evil that I have so long stood against," he said. "So if I would sacrifice my life for my principals, surely you would understand I must sacrifice my job. It saddens me that I feel compelled to do so because I love my sheriff. I admire my sheriff. I respect him. He is a good man with a good heart.
"Although I would take a bullet for my sheriff, although I would stand with him against any peril, I cannot abide by his current orders. I'm sorry, I just can't."
Higgins said, "Place not your faith in the wisdom of man but in the spirit and power of God."
Higgins added, "I haven't always been the man that stands before you today. I have spent the last 15 years of my life struggling to become a better man. I will not go back. I will not retreat. I will not step away from the path the Lord has prepared for me. I will not succumb to the powers of darkness that I have encouraged the world to stand up against. I will be the man that our Lord intended foe me to be, no matter the cost."
Higgins said the oath he took to uphold the law, the allegiance, was not to a sheriff or a chief but to the constitutional principals that that wearing a badge represents.
"It's (the oath) to the people that we have sworn to serve and protect," he added.
He continued, "Many of you know they way I grew up. We raised and trained horses. There is as saying amongst equestrians and cowboys — 'Some horses just don't' run with a bit in their mouth.' I am one of those horses. I don't do well reigned in. So although I love and respect my sheriff, I must resign, because as a soldier, if I cannot consciously carry out my assigned orders, then I must resign my post."
Higgins said it was an honor to serve with the men and women of the sheriff's office and privilege to serve the citizens of the parish. When asked what he would be doing next in his life, Higgins said he would remain in law enforcement, and he was already fielding phone calls about other possible job opportunities.
"I have speaking engagement through next March for law enforcement agencies across the country," Higgins said. "They hunger for the message of unwavering respect for constitutional rights, for prisoner's rights, penitentiary reform, for the meaning and the history and the heritage behind the badges that we wear and the sacred duty that we are sworn to uphold."
He added, "My future is bright because the path I am on is illuminated by God's light and by his grace I will move forward."
"I have to continue to follow my heart," Higgins said. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm, wrong, but if I'm wrong, I have reached the point of being wrong from bended knee. I place not my faith in the wisdom of man but in the sprit and power of God."