Chief of Police Decides Not to Retire, Mayor Names New Substitute Chief

There is A LOT to unpack with the current situation at the Shreveport Police Department. It was initially reported Friday, via a release sent out by the Mayor's office, that Police Chief Alan Crump was going to retire and that his last day would be November 15th. During Monday's City Council work session, Mayor Ollie Tyler said that Crump had not turned in his papers yet but was confident he would do that.

However, since that meeting, a lot has changed. News broke yesterday afternoon that Chief Crump had changed his mind about retiring. Instead of leaving his post permanently, Crump has announced he's taking medical leave. No word has been given on when or if Crump will return to his post.

With the Chief taking leave, Mayor Tyler was forced to name a Substitute Chief who will run the Police Department in Crump's absence. Despite expressing extreme confidence in Deputy Chief Bill Goodin and his leadership ability during Monday's work session, Mayor Tyler went in a different direction and named Ben Raymond as the Substitute Chief.

If Raymond's name sound familiar to you, it is probably because he's a 19 year veteran of the force and had the highest civil service test score of all the candidates who applied for the Chief of Police Chief position when it was open in October of 2016. Just for the record, Raymond scored a 95 on the test. Current Chief Alan Crump scored a 77. A passing grade is a 75.

Raymond was promoted to sergeant in 2017 while he was assigned as an instructor at the Shreveport’s Regional Police Training Academy. In September of 2017, he was appointed to be the Chief Administrative Assistant, where he has a large role in managing the department's 50 million dollar budget.

The appointment of Substitute Chief lasts for 30 days. After that 30 days, Mayor Tyler can extend Raymond's run as Chief or recommend a new leader...if Chief Crump has not returned to his post by then.