Paul Trouard, a 27-year veteran of the Lafayette Police Department, will serve as interim chief, the Boulet administration announced at press conference Tuesday.
Trouard will hold the post as Lafayette Consolidated Government embarks on a national search to replace Judith Estorge, a holdover from the Guillory era who announced her resignation last week.
Trouard is the seventh person to run the Lafayette Police Department since 2020. The last national search, which led to Estorge’s appointment, drew few applicants and none from out of state.
“I have full confidence in Chief Trouard’s ability to lead our department while we begin our search,” Mayor-President Monique Boulet said in a Tuesday press release. “We’ve got really great leadership at Lafayette Police Department right now and are focused on getting the right Chief in this position rather than hiring someone simply to fill the role quickly.”
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LCG will kick off the annual budget cycle. Council members will weigh the veto of a proposed gas station.
There is optimism the job opening at chief is an opportunity to improve LPD while pay raises help the agency fill vacancies.