Officer Praised For His Service, Community Dedication

 Officer Praised For His Service, Community Dedication

BOBBY ARDOIN

Editor/Consulting Writer

The dedicated and community oriented service often performed with an affable touch by Senior Cpl. Segus Jolivette, was saluted by national, state and local law enforcement who paid solemn tribute to his memory Thursday in Opelousas.

Seating availability at Our Savior’s Church was practically nonexistent during a funeral service for Joilvette, a Lafayette police officer who was fatally shot last week while operating as part of a hostage negotiation team attempting to serve a warrant inside a Jeanerette mobile home.

Officers and first responders from a number of Louisiana parish and municipal jurisdictions acted as an extensive honor guard for an extended processional that led outward from the church auditorium and into the suffocating outside heat.

The service ended with a dramatic fly-over from a helicopter squadron and a coffin flag presentation to members of the Segus Jolivette family.

Jolivette, 35, a St. Landry Parish native employed for 14 years as a city police officer with multiple responsibilities in Lafayette and Opelousas, was remembered by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as a police officer who demonstrated “the epitome of community policing.”

Landry additionally noted that law enforcement peers recall that Jolivette normally displayed an infectious smile that enabled him to connect on a more personal level as a school resource officer who was interested in working with the Lafayette junior cadet program.

“For 14 years Senior Corporal Jolivette was a warrior for justice. Today he’s become a warrior for God,” Landry said.

Pastor Eugene Reiszner II said Jolivette was an officer who served with “unending dedication for the safety and well being of the community. He and others stand on that thin blue line to restore the peace,” said Reiszner.

Reiszner said that Jolivette was notably affable and a church member who usually enjoyed being the center of attention.

Lafayette Police Sgt. Jared Kunak, squad supervisor for Jolivette, said that Jolivette usually seemed obsessed with maintaining a meticulous uniform appearance.

“He took great pride in that uniform, but his family was the most important thing for him,” said Kunak.

Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Michelle Blanco Boulet looked out into the audience and indicated the overwhelming law enforcement support she witnessed among those who attended.

“(Jolivette) was a reflection of you, the sacrifice you make and the burden that you carry,” Boulet pointed out.

Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard said Jolivette had a personality that seemed ideally suited for the role of a community police officer.

“He had the ability to spread joy to everyone he knew. To be able to do that throughout your community takes a special person and (Jolivette) was that special type of person to do that job,’ Trouard added.

Ajah Jolivette, the 18-year-old daughter of Segus and Alexis Jolivette, said the large funeral crowd was a tribute to the type of person that Jolivette was to his community and for her, her mother and four siblings.

Jolivette was the type of person, Ajah Jolivette said, who could talk for hours and someone who was never hesitant to accept responsibility for the mistakes he made.

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