Joshua Williams chooses performance over police radios

Sheriff to review dispatcher’s online rant
August 24, 2015
2015 By the Schedules
August 25, 2015
Sheriff to review dispatcher’s online rant
August 24, 2015
2015 By the Schedules
August 25, 2015

A dispatcher trainee at the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office whose online video rant offended other officers has apologized for the discomfort it caused, and resigned from his position.

Joshua Williams, 25, routinely posts potty-mouthed online videos to the Facebook page of an alter ego named Jo Jackson, which has more than 10,000 followers.

What drew local attention was a video, now removed from his page, describing what he would do if a police officer tried to pull him over.


“Y’all are not going to stop me until I get to the nearest NAACP building, the nearest church,” Williams says in rapid-fire, expletive-laced speech as the Jo Jackson character. “I am not stopping for you. If the police kill me y’all going to turn this m—f— out… set s— on fire. Y’all better turn it out.”

In a Facebook post Sunday night Williams, who is the son of Terrebonne Parish Council Member Arlanda Williams, issued an apology, and also thanked his supporters for words of encouragement they had offered Sunday.

“I would like to apologize first to my mom and everyone supporting her campaign,” he said, referring to his mother’s recently announced re-election bid. “If I did anything to hurt that I apologize.”


Joshua Williams also apologized “to anyone I may have offended.”

“The intent of the video was not to discredit police nor was it to incite any type of riot,” he said. “It was simply my comedic observation of what we all see in the news each and every day. I can understand how some may have misunderstood the purpose and premise of the video so for that I apologize.”

Arlanda Williams, who is blocked from her son’s Facebook page by mutual agreement and has been for some time, learned about the video Sunday.


Working closely with local law enforcement and obtaining grants for increased police patrols are among the touchstones of the councilwoman’s re-election bid. She told The Times that her family wished to offer apologies to anyone who might have been affected, and addressed the matter on her own Facebook page.

“We apologize to all who took offense to the video he posted and to the officers who have expressed their fear we apologize,” Arlanda Williams wrote. “In light of all that has transpired Joshua has issued a statement of resignation for his position at the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office. God bless you all. We ask all of his supporters and followers to respect his decision and remember blessed are the peacemakers.”

Sheriff’s Office personnel had already complained about the video last week, and Jackson was officially reprimanded and told to take it down.


Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said Sunday that he planned to look further into the matter, but that was prior to the resignation announcement. He and others in the office said the dispatcher was polite and efficient at work, and nothing like his contentious Jo Jackson persona.

The video drew general attention and spirited online discussion Sunday after a Facebook group called “The Buzz” posted it.

Houma landscaper Nicole Lirette, who founded and administrates the “Buzz” page, said she posted the video because deputies she knew who were fed up with what they told her was a laid-back approach to prior gaffes by Williams wanted it to be publicly seen.


“I felt like somebody needed to stand up for law enforcement,” Lirette said, when asked why she chose to post the video. “I had deputies ask me how can they feel safe being dispatched by someone who had that kind of disrespect for fellow officers, for brothers in blue.”

Sheriff to review dispatcher’s online rantCaseyGisclair
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