As he approaches his second year in office, Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle has accomplished a lot for his department in a short period in order to improve services for the public, as well as improve benefits for his employees.
The Oakdale Police Department (OkPD) is a civil service based-department. At the time he took office, Doyle said the assistant chief was retiring. He immediately abolished the position asking state Representative Dewith Carrier for assistance in introducing legislation to create the position of deputy chief. The only requirements is the officer holding the position must be post certified and worked in the department for one year. This position is important to Doyle’s chief status since this person works closely with him to keep checks and balances in order.
Before taking office, Doyle said the department hired personnel part-time to circumvent sending employees to the academy and paying benefits. First thing he did was head to Baton Rouge and worked with the civil service board to bring the department within civil service guidelines. This allows him to keep trained officers and create longevity, which is extremely important in crime-fighting, protection of the public and other police services.
“Now everybody is post certified except maybe two or three people who were recently hired,” he said.
Officers, who are post-certified, qualify for job security, rank increases when passing a test for open positions, etc.
Recently, the OkPD received a live scan fingerprint system. Doyle said he approached the state for one a few months ago and was told the state rarely received any of the machines back from law enforcement. He asked to be put on the list and soon learned McNeese was not utilizing their system. He said he quickly went that way and loaded it up and it took a few weeks to meet all of the requirements set by the state.
The system allows the department to use the most up-to-date fingerprint and mugshot database when booking offenders. And Doyle said small departments, without live scan fingerprint systems, normally do not enter misdemeanor-oriented scans.
This is an advantage to Oakdale, so if a misdemeanor offender commits a more serious crime later, their prints will be in the system. This helps identify offenders quicker when serious crimes occur. And when a person is booked in to the jail, the scan tells the department if that is person is wanted elsewhere and what charges are being filed against them. The system costs approximately $25,000, and he is pleased to utilize the equipment here.
Since taking office in November of 2020, he said four patrol units have been donated to the department, and the department has been able to purchase new units.
Doyle also has about $14,000 in an account that now includes any ticket money written for over $5,000 each month. He said he negotiated with the city to have this money designated for the department to benefit the department and not his operating budget. Since receiving this money, he had upgraded the department’s computers, purchased new equipment, including monitors, and made repairs to the police station.
“We’ve put new flooring in different spots,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of things that we couldn’t do before.”
Doyle said a lot of his employees are young people just starting out in life and were having to purchase equipment to become an officer. He has now issued weapons and utility belts, etc. to his officers using department funds instead of new recruits having to purchase their own weapons that can add up to $1,000. Many of these new hires were coming off the street with no prior job.
Today his department is looking more professional with all employees in uniforms. Before he said they wore shirts and whatever they could find. Now its a uniform policy.
He also moved his four dispatchers to the jail area and gave them $3.25 per hour raises instead of utilizing a “fire watch’ designee, all who were making minimum wage before he took office ($7.25 to $10.50). Now he has capabilities in the jail and administrative office to run dispatch. He said this provides space for emergency situations and also agencies if they have to leave their location and need dispatch services. Today he has about 15 to 16 officers with the warden and four dispatchers working for him. By utilizing his budgeted dollars and saving money in areas he can, he was able to give his officers a raise. As an example, he said a sergeant was making $11.89 per hour then and is now making $15 an hour.
At the moment, he is waiting for new body cameras to arrive in the next 30 days. When an officer engages a body-cam, Doyle said a GPS coordinate will be emitted. This will be another step in safety protocol allowing his department to know where officers are in case of emergency situations. Representative Carrier assisted him in securing a $25,000 matching grant to help with this project.
Doyle also secured a 50-percent matching grant to secure new Kevlar Body Armor Vests at approximately $700 each for each officer.
“When I first took office, I had a lot of sleepless nights. No one had a bullet proof vest.”
Doyle said it was important to work toward securing safety equipment for his officers. He also purchased four new radar units with proceeds from ticket money.
Recently he instituted a take-home policy with his police units. In the past, he said the city kept two units running 24-hours a day and in two years, new vehicles were needed. This new policy will hopefully work toward keeping one person responsible for a vehicle’s care. He said his patrol supervisor makes sure maintenance work is updated when necessary, and the supervisor also inspects all equipment.
When he was an officer in Oakdale in the late 80s and early 90s, he said all units were marked the same. When he took office, that was not the case. He worked to get all markings on his units uniformed. He is presently working on the last unit. He said he did it over time to stay within his budget guidelines.
The department purchased a gas tank and is once again purchasing fuel in the bulk. That process is connected to its generator so when power goes down or emergencies exist, officers can still access fuel for their patrol units.
“I went old school,” he said. “That’s how it was when I first started. We bought our fuel in bulk. We’re saving 30 to 40 cents on every gallon we use.”
Doyle continues to implement plans in order to create a more professional atmosphere for his department. He said he works well with the city council and civil service board locally to accomplish his goals. It’s one day at a time, and he continues to find ways to make life better for his employees as they work to keep the public safe.
