Tough job ahead for Mitchell

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Terrebonne Parish’s new Director of Public Safety Ralph Mitchell is not stepping into an easy job. The police department is a tangled web of lawsuits in the midst of a recent surge in crime. The Juvenile Justice Center is mired in its own lawsuits regarding sexual misdeeds with juvenile inmates. The Office of Emergency preparedness is constantly on edge, waiting for the next big storm to hit the area and the parish has a sprawling system of regular and volunteer fire departments.


Mitchell, who started work on Tuesday, will be charged with overseeing all of these departments. The position has been on the books for nearly a decade, but the daunting position has never been filled.


Parish President Michel Claudet, however, believes he’s found just the man for the job.

“He didn’t come looking for a job. I sought him out,” said Claudet. “He was the very first candidate that I interviewed that had the qualifications, experience, temperament and the desire to get the job done in a manner that was consistent with the objectives that we’ve set for the parish.”


Mitchell recently retired from the Louisiana State Police with more than 26 years of service, and he achieved the rank of deputy superintendent of Crisis Response and Special Operations. By the time he retired, Mitchell had developed a niche for crisis response and had about 800 men under his command. Mitchell is also a resident and native of Houma.


“I started with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office here many years ago, so in that aspect it is like coming home,” said Mitchell. “I’ll be doing a lot of listening for the first several weeks or months. My first orders of businesses are to get to know all the players involved.”

Perhaps the largest issue facing Mitchell will be wrangling Houma’s internally divided police department into shape. In the fallout of allegations of misdeeds by Chief of Police Pat Boudreaux, nine lawsuits have been filed. Both Boudreaux, who is still chief of police despite being on administrative leave for more than 18 months, and his interim replacement, Todd Duplantis, have been sued. In total, 12 police department employees and the parish itself have been sued.


“It’s going to be a little bit challenging,” said Mitchell of the Houma Police Department. “I know we can’t just walk in there and fix the problems that are there. Ultimately, my goal is to get us a permanent police chief and get back to what’s considered around the country as normal operations.”


Claudet, however, believes the police department’s woes will ultimately have to be settled in court.

“I don’t think he can do anything more than what’s being done right now. The matters in the Houma PD should be resolved in April when it goes to trial,” said Claudet. “That’s probably not one of the things that would be able to be accomplished by him.”

Mitchell will also be responsible for handling a juvenile detention center that was recently hammered by a sex scandal in which guards allegedly traded sexual favors from underage female inmates for privileges and snacks. The facility is also plagued by overcrowding.

That project is being held up as the parish council and Claudet argue over the parcel of land where a government complex that would include a new juvenile center could be built.

“I think each entity probably has it’s own unique set of circumstances that are outside of what we would call normal operations. I’m inheriting some of these issues, as did President Claudet,” said Mitchell.

Although the job may prove difficult, Claudet said he is confident in Mitchell’s ability.

“His experience credentials and knowledge are impeccable, and he’s from Terrebonne Parish,” said Claudet.

As for Mitchell, he said he was looking forward to his new job in his hometown.

“We want to be out front and open with what we do. We’ll rag on our successes. We’ll analyze our failure to see where we went wrong, and we’ll continue battling,” said Mitchell.

Ralph Mitchell – Terrebonne Parish Director of Public Safety