HPD: Coleman nod not seen as race-tinged, but politics are a subtext

When Parish President Michel Claudet announced that Lt. Dana Coleman would take over management of the Houma Police Department after the retirement of Chief Todd Duplantis, the choice was generally praised and welcomed.

Claudet’s announcement, made at the local NAACP’s annual Freedom Banquet, took note of Coleman’s accomplishments, and the inescapable acknowledgement that he will be the city’s first black chief of police, a distinction Coleman and most of his supporters say is a mere lagniappe, worthy of remark but not undue focus.

“I have known Dana for several years going back prior to my years on the council,” said council member Arlanda Williams. “One of his greatest attributes is his humbleness. I knew he was interviewing, but I didn’t realize he had completed the interviews. He was very secretive and yes, as were many others, I was taken by surprise.”

In addition to what she sees as his innate ability to lead the department, Williams, a black woman who represents a majority black district, was particularly happy that the choice of Coleman – ordained by an outgoing administration – was made from the rank and file, with race afforded little more than historic significance.

“It is very important to promote from within these women and men who have put the City of Houma and Terrebonne Parish as their number one concern,” Williams said. “It would be a slap in their faces if we went outside to seek a new leader. We have a very good force and they are dedicated to the department. We do not need to look anywhere else.”

But while race in no way defines Coleman and is not likely to define his tenure, it is an element of a brewing controversy that could bubble over to local polls when a new parish president is selected by voters, or affect future aspects of parish government, depending on who wins the contested office.

NAACP President Jerome Boykin, at whose dinner the announcement was made, took no notice of Coleman’s race in his initial assessment of Claudet’s choice.

“First of all he is qualified. I get along with Dana. The most important thing is the fact that he is qualified to be chief,” said Boykin, who expressed a “wait-and-see” approach as to how he might ultimately judge Coleman, currently chief of detectives and the department’s official spokesman, as the city’s top law enforcement executive.

Boykin did not take that approach to predicting how Coleman might fare should Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, best Councilman Daniel Babin for the office of parish president, for which the two are the only announced candidates to date.

“I don’t think Gordon Dove would appoint a black police chief, and I don’t think he would re-appoint an African-American chief,” said Boykin, who has consistently criticized Dove for arguing against and actively blocking state legislation proposing a minority sub-district for election of judges in Terrebonne Parish, from the floor of the House of Representatives.

It was Dove, as well, who successfully shepherded legislation that allowed Claudet to by-pass the civil service system and fire Duplantis’ predecessor, the late Pat Boudreaux, and elevate Duplantis. It also has allowed Duplantis to retain his position for as long as Claudet saw fit, and to then elevate Coleman.

That law, enacted in 2009 and renewed in 2012 – at Dove’s behest – sunsets in one year, throwing the chief’s job into the competitive civil service category six months into a new parish president’s term. Prior to that time, as now, an incoming parish president could dismiss Coleman and hire a successor, or choose to retain him.

Either scenario gives a new parish president plenty of wiggle room, and the potential for avoiding some political consequences.

Dove has characterized Coleman as “a very, very nice gentleman and very well qualified.”

“He chose a good man,” Dove said of Claudet’s decision, after reciting a litany of points from Coleman’s resume, displaying strong familiarity with the incoming chief’s career. “I look forward to working with him if the good people of Terrebonne Parish see fit to elect me.”

Coleman, Dove said, would be evaluated along with all other department heads but he doesn’t predict that a change would occur.

“I have no plans to mess with him,” Dove said, noting Coleman’s qualifications and expressing confidence in Claudet’s choice.

“My notion, my direction with the parish is that it’s like running a new business, evaluating all the department heads. My job would be to look at everyone and see if they are doing the best job for the parish and if they could work with me, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Dove bristled at Boykin’s predictions, which he described as unfair, unfounded in fact and an undue injection of race into the matter of his candidacy.

“Jerome was not right to make that comment. He pulls out the race card quicker than Wyatt Earp can draw his pistol,” Dove said. “He uses that race card like no one else can. He is not supporting me for parish president, nor do I want his support nor would I accept his support.”

Babin – who as a council member has has the benefit of greater familiarity with Coleman – lavished praise on the incoming chief.

“Chief Dana Coleman is first and foremost an excellent policeman, over and above that he is an extraordinary human being,” Babin said. “He is a very religious individual and he believes in this community, and wants this community to go forward. I am truly happy with Michel’s choice. It had to be a tough choice for him because there were some excellent candidates, with some of the same if not all of the same qualities that Dana has. He did not choose Dana Coleman because he is black but because he is the best candidate. It so happens he is the first African-American chief but he should not be labeled as the first black chief, he should be labeled as the best man for the job.”

Babin has also told community leaders that he plans evaluations of department heads, and affirmed his support of Coleman to them. He made clear in statements during an interview that Coleman’s appointment is permanent, and not just for the interim of the out-going Claudet’s term.

However race and its relation to politics may affect who Claudet’s successor will be, there is little indication from the people policed by officers under a Coleman HPD administration that it has anything to do with life in Houma as they see it.

In recent years, under the command of Duplantis, the department has enjoyed high marks from all community segments. Interviews over the past two weeks have confirmed those findings, contained in an outside consultant’s assessment of the department last year.

Grover White, who is now retired and has lived in central Houma all of his life, was among people who said the concept of having a black police chief is a good thing.

“But it doesn’t matter as long as whoever it is does a good job,” said White, who has complaints about what he sees as over-zealous quality-of-life enforcement, which has included rousting of himself and companions from sitting on milk crates in a lot outside of a Family Dollar store on West Main Street.

“We’re not doing anything wrong and they shouldn’t bother us, we’re not breaking any laws,” said White, who harbors no suspicions that race has played any role in those actions.

David Harris, also a life-long Houma retiree, agreed with White’s assessment. He wishes that officers would more proactively address younger men who frequent the old “That Stanley!” lot on Main and Morgan streets, near where he and his associates watch the world go by, whom he says harass and disrespect elders like himself. But he acknowledges that officers can’t be everywhere, summing up his experience with “overall, they are doing a good job.”

Coleman himself has kept a low profile as the process of his officially becoming chief moves ahead, with full confirmation expected this week.

A police officer since 1995, first hired by former chief Jack Smith, Coleman has distinguished himself not only on patrol and in the public information role, but also as a hostage negotiator with a reputation among fellow officers for being calm and collected.

Appearing before the parish council in June, when his appointment was officially announced to the council’s members, Coleman summed up his personal view of the department he will command.

“H.P.D.,” he said “stands for honor, pride and dedication.”

Coleman also spoke of a department that under his administration will be one whose members are unified, a task that its tumultuous history, according to some former administrators and observers, could be the most difficult of all.

Lt. Dana Coleman is taking over operation of the Houma Police Department as its chief. Coleman has been the department’s public affairs officer.

JEAN-PAUL ARGUELLO | THE TIMES