By Bryn Stole
The Advocate
BATON ROUGE, La. — Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. submitted his retirement from the department Monday morning, bringing to a close his 31-year career with city police.
Dabadie’s retirement launches a search for his replacement as chief and ends a standoff with Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome over his future with BRPD. Broome, who was sworn in as mayor-president in January, repeatedly vowed to replace Dabadie as chief during her campaign, though Civil Service protections meant Dabadie remained largely free to decide the terms and timing of his departure.
In his retirement letter, Dabadie wrote he’d had “the honor and privilege of leading one of the finest police departments in the country and I will be forever thankful for the opportunity.
“I leave behind the most professional, well-respected officers, supervisors, trainers and friends in the world.”
The contentious politics surrounding the Baton Rouge Police Department and Broome’s vow to replace him appeared to factor heavily into Dabadie’s decision to step down. He hinted at a strained relationship with Broome in the letter, obtained by The Advocate via a public records request.
“I had hoped our relationship could have grown into a strong partnership as we have faced times this city has never seen,” Dabadie wrote. “I feel that my retirement would be the best thing for the department and myself.”
In a statement Monday afternoon, Dabadie said the decision “did not come easily” but that he felt his position as chief had become untenable.
“Unfortunately, I am in a situation that will not serve our police department or the citizens of Baton Rouge,” Dabadie said. “My hope is that the men and women of the Baton Rouge Police Department will be allowed to perform their jobs according to state law, without prejudice, and that politics will not prevail over public safety.”
Dabadie will take paid leave from the department before officially departing on Oct. 2, he wrote in the letter. Broome confirmed that her office had approved his leave in a news release.
“Chief Dabadie is an honorable man and I will continue to say that,” Broome said Monday. “He has served our city as police chief. Many people appreciate, certainly, his contribution to law enforcement.”
Broome named Lt. Jonny Dunnam as interim chief. Dunnam has spent the past 28 years with BRPD, including the past three years as the top spokesman for the department following a lengthy stint in internal affairs. Dunnam will not be eligible to apply for the permanent position, Broome said.
Dabadie had recommended in his retirement letter that Deputy Chief David Hamilton, his second-in-command at the department, take over as interim.
Broome said she is now kicking off a national search that she promised during his campaign for mayor last fall.
Although the mayor and Dabadie both proclaimed they were successfully working together after Broome took office, she had made it clear that finding a new chief remained her goal.
The mayor said she was launching a search for a police chief immediately after taking office seven months ago, but later backed off that pledge, saying she wanted to wait until she and Dabadie came to an agreement about his departure before considering candidates to replace him.
The BRPD chief can be paid within a range of $121,133 to $145,510 annually, according to the city-parish’s pay plan. The chief also receives an extra $6,000 in state supplemental pay, along with a vehicle allowance. Dabadie was paid $146,510 last year, according to the city-parish’s salary database.
The future BRPD chief is purely a mayoral appointment, and the Metro Council does not have the ability to ratify Broome’s choice, based on the Baton Rouge plan of government. As long as Broome keeps her future chief’s salary within the range that maxes out at $145,510, the Metro Council will not have to approve or set the next chief’s salary, either.
But should Broome want to increase the pay of the next chief, she would have to go to the Metro Council for approval.
Former Mayor-President Kip Holden appointed Dabadie police chief in August 2013, after he had served a brief time as interim chief following the acrimonious departure of the prior chief, Dewayne White.
Dabadie noted his gratitude to Holden in his statement Monday, thanking the former mayor “for his confidence in me and for the opportunity to lead one of the most prestigious police departments in the country.”
He also added his “appreciation to the members of the Metro Council who have supported both our men and women in uniform and me personally, working with us to maintain professional police standards.”
Dabadie grew up in Baker the son of a Baton Rouge police officer and spent a lifetime influenced by the law enforcement community. He knew early on that he would go on to follow in the footsteps of his father, Lt. Carl Dabadie Sr., who died in an on-duty motorcycle wreck in 1984.
“I admired him growing up for all that he did,” Dabadie said of his father. “I never had any doubt this is what I wanted to do.”
Hillar Moore III, the East Baton Rouge district attorney, said he was “saddened” to hear of Dabadie’s retirement on Monday “after years of outstanding service.”
“Chief Dabadie will be hard to replace,” Moore said. “I hope that Baton Rouge is able to find a chief that has all of Carl’s talent, work ethic, fairness, passion for criminal justice and demeanor.”
Moore said he hoped Broome’s chief would be committed to implementing “best practices” and stressing the importance of “data-driven” approaches to crime fighting.
“I’ve got to compliment Chief Dabadie,” Councilman Buddy Amoroso said. “He was a great man and a great police chief, and he will be very sorely missed.”
“I have some hard concerns about this mayor’s ability to be able to pick someone,” Amoroso said, “if you just look at the history of what she’s done with the (chief administrative officer) and right now we still only have an interim CAO.”
He said he has seen no indication that she’s been working to find a new police chief.
“I’m very nervous about that,” Amoroso said. “It’s a very important position that needs to be filled, and I hope she has been quietly gathering national resumes behind the scenes.”
Negotiating Dabadie’s departure proved difficult, as state Civil Service protections do not allow the Baton Rouge mayor to fire the police chief without just cause.
In the week after the Department of Justice announcement in the Sterling case, Broome said she and Dabadie were “on the same page” in terms of wanting to improve the police department, while he said they were “working together to bring about changes.”
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©2017 The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.