LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - On election night, Reggie Thomas watched as results for the Lafayette City Marshal race rolled in.
As he waited for the last two precincts’ votes to be counted, Thomas sat in a dark quiet room. His daughter came in and he asked her to sit with him. He was ahead of his competitor Duson Police Chief Kip Judice by a few hundred votes.
Thomas’ campaign supporters in the next room were quiet. The silence started to work on his nerves.
“Finally, you hear everybody exploding and I knew I had won,” Thomas said. “It was a feeling unlike anything else.”
He won by 274 votes.
Thomas is the first African American to be elected to a city-wide position in Lafayette, according to Clerk of Court Louis Perret. He’ll be sworn in on Jan. 8.
“In 2020, with all the divisiveness that’s been going on, I mean, it’s just a breath of fresh air,” he said. “We are a city of 130,000 people who can look at a person with qualifications and say, ‘hey, I’ll vote for this person because of their qualifications, not only the color.’ It makes me feel that I’m blessed to live in Lafayette.”
His historic win was exciting for Marja Broussard, the president of the Lafayette chapter of the NAACP. If it hadn’t been for COVID-19 restrictions, she said she might have been dancing in the street.
“The Black community knows Reggie. He’s had a personal relationship with the community,” she said. “I know Reggie believes in education. I know that he believes in our people so I’m confident there will be great changes to the city marshal considering the scandal with (former Marshal Brian) Pope.”
THE FIRST 100 DAYS IN OFFICE
Thomas is taking over the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office, an agency marred by controversy. The former city marshal, Brian Pope, was convicted in 2018 for using marshal funds to hire personal attorneys. He was formally removed from office in October.
Pope is facing additional malfeasance charges stemming from his time at the marshal’s office. He was accused of taking more than $84,000 in fees collected by the office and pocketing $3,000 in reimbursements of business expenses already paid by his office.
Thomas hopes to restore the community’s trust in the city marshal’s office, starting with having the department accredited by a national agency. With that would come guidelines for everything, from equipment to when to pursue a suspect.
Another of his goals is to have the city marshals train with the Lafayette Police Department since both agencies often work together.
He also wants to evaluate the office’s operations to make it more efficient.
“The department has to be reorganized and it has to be in the direction of community and also in the direction of providing the best service for the community,” he said.
Beyond making changes directly to the office, Thomas said he wants to use the platform to do bigger things for the community. He plans to join the soon-to-be-selected Lafayette Police chief to expand the Community Relations Board. Thomas created the board while at the police department to help bring together residents and police officers.
He also intends to create a mentorship program that focuses on children who don’t have fathers in their lives. It’s a passion of his after his own father was killed by gun violence while he was a child in New Orleans.
“Reggie, as a whole, will be a great city marshal for all of Lafayette, not just the north side or the predominately African American community,” said Destiny of Faith Pastor Ken Lazard. “I believe, based off working with Reggie, that he really is a bridge builder.”
Lazard and Thomas worked together to bring the Community Relations Committee to the Oasis Community, formerly known as Truman.
WINNING THE CITY MARSHAL SEAT
Thomas was with the Lafayette Police Department for 30 years. He started as a patrol officer in 1990 and rose through the ranks to interim chief in 2016.
Thomas also served as deputy chief for three years under former Police Chief Toby Aguillard.
Thomas sought the city marshal seat after community members asked him to run. He thought the position would be a good fit and that he could bring a better image to the office.
“The biggest part of my campaign was it was a grassroots campaign,” Thomas said. “We knocked on doors, we walked, we talked to anybody who would listen. And I think that was mostly the difference. We really got out and we really talk to people.”
Aguillard said he was confident in Thomas’ ability to win the seat and that he expects Thomas will bring enthusiasm and integrity to the marshal’s office.
“He’s going to bring a sense of excellence to the office. He’s a great problem solver, he’s a great advocate for justice,” Aguillard said. “I expect he’ll bring a sense that we can be proud of our Marshal’s office again.”
Since his win, Thomas has fielded calls from supporters, law enforcement peers, friends and family.
It’s a moment he knew would come, never doubting he would win the race for the marshal’s office.
“My job is to be a marshal and my job is serving papers, securing the courthouse and arrest warrants. Outside of that my job is taking care of the community, making Lafayette Louisiana the best place that you can live and they afforded me the chance to prove that,” Thomas said. “By voting for me, you voted for somebody who’s gonna do things in Lafayette that (have) never been seen with the city marshal’s office.”
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