AG says neither Civil Service panel nor City Council has authority to investigate chief of police

Police Chief Ronald Dies, who lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 4, will leave his successor with a ruling from the state attorney general that reinforces the chief’s independence of other city agencies.
An Attorney General Office’s opinion rendered at Dies’ request says that neither the Fire & Police Civil Service Board nor the City Council has any authority to conduct any investigation of an elected police chief.
Dies’ back-and-forth with the board over the past four years are in part, some observers feel, to blame for his running third in the five-person primary field.
In July the board was prepared to go into executive session to “consider an investigation” into actions of Dies.
It did not do so when it was called to members’ attention that the board had not included such a possibility on the posted agenda of the meeting, as required by law.
At its next meeting, the board voted to edit a complaint received from Deputy Chief Varden Guillory because it might contain matters that could be the subject of investigation.
Whether such a probe was to be conducted by the board or some other agency wasn’t specified.
The unedited complaint, received July 30, is a compendium of allegations against the chief. It raises allegations of malfeasance, misfeasance, privacy violations, etc.
Assistant AG Emily Andrews issued an opinion regarding such an investigation after a request from Dies.
She points out that Louisiana statues clearly exclude the chief an all other elected or appointed persons from provisions of classified service and investigation.
“It is the opinion of this office that a municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board does not ... have the authority to initiate or conduct an investigation of the city’s elected chief of police,” she wrote, with the authorizing agreement of Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.
The ruling also notes an elected chief is not subject to disciplinary actions of the mayor and/or board of alderman.
On another matter, the Fire and Police Board on Oct. 29 voted to appeal a judge’s order that it hold a hearing for fired officer Talya Fruge.
The board had ordered her put back to work, saying the City Council did not afford her her rights in upholding Dies’ termination recommendation.
The city won its appeal to district court, saying it was not required to do anything other than provide her an opportunity be present as it considered the matter.