Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor released a statement on Police Chief Graig LeBlanc
“Since shortly before Christmas, we’ve closely followed the events involving Chief Leblanc, his wife Captain Crystal Leblanc of SLPSO, and one of our officers.” On January 29th, the City of Opelousas Mayor’s Office was notified that Police Chief Craig Leblanc had been arrested and charged in relation to the December shooting incident.
Once reliable information was made available to us, Probationary Police Officer Savannah Butler was placed on paid administrative leave. Senior members of our police department are currently conducting an appropriate investigation regarding her involvement in the events, and it remains pending.
Chief Leblanc has maintained his elected office and legal authority throughout the occurrence of this event, and I understand he has been available at the police department. He remains in charge day to day.
I have met with Chief Leblanc since news broke of the charges against him. He indicated his plans are to continue to serve Opelousas in the elected office of Chief of Police. Let me also add, Chief Leblanc is an elected official and the city council nor myself as the Mayor, can remove him from office.
We understand we have a second part-time police officer who is alleged to have had some involvement, and he is also on administrative leave as we seek reliable information about those rapidly developing allegations at this time.
We have received public records requests from several members of the media, and we’ve worked quickly and diligently to satisfy those requests. We will continue that transparency.
Let me stress, we understand that this news is alarming to the community, and we take any occurrences involving law enforcement very seriously. Police Chief Graig Leblanc with his administrative staff will maintain the effective and efficient operation of the Opelousas Police Department working together as a team. We have also been in contact with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Department, the investigative agency, in regards to this case and will continue to give updates as more information becomes available. Our police department and this city’s administration are committed and dedicated to ensuring the safety and protection of our citizens, businesses, visitors, and employees, which is and has always been our top priority.
