Council agrees to officer's termination

The Eunice City Council on Tuesday night accepted the recommendation of Chief Ronald Dies to terminate one of two police officers suspended for not assisting another during an April altercation.
Officer Tayla Fruge was recommended for termination by Chief Dies and before the council at May meeting. The council agreed with that recommendation, but did not agree with the proposed termination
of Officer Jade Weaver – a rookie who had been on the force for nearly eight weeks when the incident occurred.
The council brought up the issue of Weaver’s training and how she was tasked to do a “ride along” with a seasoned officer. The seasoned officer in question was Fruge – who some council members
perceived as unqualified to train a police officer who had yet to complete police academy training.
In a letter provided to the council Deputy Chief Varden Guillory asserted Weaver was “set up for failure when she was placed with ofc Tayla Fruge.” The letter indicated that Dies had assigned Weaver
to ride with Fruge – who is an officer that “has an unwillingness to perform her duties”, according to the letter.
Guillory wrote that two other officers, as opposed to Fruge, were picked to train Weaver, but that the order was changed without his knowledge.
Ward 3 Alderman James “Junior” Bergeron questioned why Weaver was assigned to ride with Fruge – who Bergeron said “wasn’t certified to train.”
Guillory also stated in the letter that the now-terminated Fruge had “shown an unwillingness to perform her duties for quite some time” and that her behavior was noted by two other officers on the force.
As Guillory suspended both Weaver and Fruge for failing to assist a fellow officer during an altercation on April 2, he only recommended the termination of Fruge as the senior officer. Both were arrested on
April 21 by St. Landry Parish deputies following an investigation into alleged malfeasance while in office as requested by Dies.
The matter of the Chief’s suggestion to terminate Fruge was nearly tabled as council members were silent in making a motion to accept the chief’s recommendation. After the second call for a motion by
Mayor Rusty Moody, Ward 1 Alderman Roland Miller made the motion – which was seconded by Alderman-At-Large Jackson Burson.
“I will second the motion for one, plain and simple reason: We have the unanimous recommendation from of all of the supervisors,” said Burson.
“We’ve got to remain aware of the fact that, under the law, the statutes, the government, we do not have the right to micro-manage the daily operations of the police department.
If we’re not careful, we can put ourselves in that position. Officer Fruge has full appeal rights and ultimately she can go to court, if it gets that far. But her rights should be well protected
here and I’m not going to second-guess all of the supervisors in the police department who were unanimous in their recommendation.”
The council voted unanimously to terminate Fruge, who chose to have her hearing in public before the council. The council also voted unanimously to not terminate Weaver following her requested executive session hearing.
Fruge can appeal the decision to the Fire & Police Civil Service Board if she chooses.