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Houma Police Department Chief Todd Duplantis announced he will be retiring from the department after 30 years behind the badge.
Duplantis, 50, will step down on Aug. 6, his 30-year anniversary as a Houma Police officer.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for any person to go 30 years in law enforcement,” he said. “A police chief job, it’s 24/7. I’m telling you, it’s 24/7 and I want to spend more time with my kids, my family, my wife, grandkids.”
Duplantis joined the department in 1985 as a uniformed patrol officer. He was named Police Office of the Year in 1991, and Outstanding Police Officer in 1993 and 1999 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet named Duplantis police chief on June 3, 2008.
“I really didn’t know Todd Duplantis until I interviewed him,” Claudet said. “He made such an impression on me that I said that’s going to be my man.”
Duplantis wasn’t sure he’d get the job.
“When he called me in … when it was down to three of us, me being one of them, I kind of had a confession speech prepared. I didn’t think he was going to pick me. And he looked at me and said, ‘Todd, you’re the guy I want [for the job.]’”
Claudet said he regretfully accepted Duplantis’ resignation letter. He intends to conduct interviews to find the retiring chief’s replacement.
Duplantis said his biggest accomplishment as chief is increasing community engagement with the police through Neighborhood Watch programs. He said the community policing method is a major factor in realizing Houma’s lowest crime rates in decades.
When Duplantis joined the force, Houma only had two Neighborhood Watch programs. Today, it has 33.
“Thirty-four by mid-June,” he said.
Managing a force of 100, all with varying viewpoints, has been the greatest challenge, he said.
“I think I’m guilty of trying to make everybody happy,” Duplantis said.
As a new chief, Duplantis said his day started at 3 a.m. He’d study civil service law and complete paperwork.
“It wasn’t easy by any means,” he said.
Duplantis has no intentions to join the private sector in August. He owns a few rental houses and has “plenty of lawns to cut.”
Duplantis is married to his high school sweetheart, Darlene Hebert Duplantis, whom he wed in 1984. The couple has two children and four grandchildren.
