Former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves bestows an award to then-Master Trooper (now Sergeant) Shawn Boyd on Friday, May 19, 2017, mere months before Fox8’s Lee Zurik would air an investigative feature entailing LACE abuses which included Boyd.
[Editor’s Note: This feature had to be edited — to include the title — after, at 7:42 p.m. on the day of publication, we received a phone call from an LSP authoritative source revealing the fact that Boyd had been terminated by LSP after the initial incident of 2015 referenced in Fox 8’s Lee Zurik’s video below.]
On Thursday, October 20, 2022, Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Lamar Davis announced a number of promotions.
Soon thereafter, we received phone calls, emails, and texts from livid active and retired troopers about one of the promotions: Master Trooper Shawn Boyd to Sergeant.
Boyd was caught up in the late-2017 Lee Zurik (Fox 8 in New Orleans) LACE undercover investigation by the station. Even in that feature, Zurik revealed that Boyd had been suspended for 160 hours two years prior for not working hours he claimed to work on LACE! Let’s take a look at highlights of the Zurik feature, particularly as it pertained to Boyd:
Highlights of the November 9, 2017 Zurik investigation on abuses of LSP’s LACE program, particularly as they related to LSP Master Trooper (Now Sergeant) Shawn Boyd.
The above video speaks for itself, so we’ll add nothing to it!
The trooper who fleeced taxpayers for the most money in Zurik’s feature was Daryl Thomas, who pulled in a cool $247,317, with nearly $148,000 of that in LACE overtime earnings.
Our longer-term subscribers and casual site visitors will recall that Thomas appeared before the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) on June 14, 2018 (against the advice of his attorney) and pleaded with the Commission not to place him on leave without pay once his annual leave (which he was placed on after using up administrative leave) was up.
That video has been commented upon by members of the public more than just about any video we’ve ever published, so let’s give former Trooper Thomas (he was eventually terminated from his employment) an encore performance, shall we?:
LSP Trooper Daryl Thomas flatly denies committing payroll fraud and slams an investigative report by Fox8’s Lee Zurik as he pleads with the LSPC to not suspend him without pay and the LSPC’s response.
For anyone who may wish to read the 100+ comments on Thomas, feel free to click on the “Watch on YouTube” button on the lower-left of the above video. Trust us, it won’t be pretty!
Our sources tell us that Boyd was terminated by LSP over the first incident (which Zurik references in the first video above), but that the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus and then-Southern University’s President, Ray L. Belton lobbied for Boyd to be rehired, and he was in fact rehired based on that political influence which Thomas obviously didn’t have. Boyd has reportedly worked the Southern University football games for “years” and was working them at the time of the above controversy from what sources tell us.
The same sources tell us that, with Davis being on a minority-promoting binge, Boyd was all but assured to get the promotion to Sergeant, his problematic past and extensive discipline notwithstanding.
One retired LSP Trooper went so far as to make the following quote to us:
This is a prime example of how belonging to the right black fraternity will benefit you in Louisiana State Police today. Things like this are pure morale busters to all of the good troopers black and white but is especially demoralizing to the white troopers who are overtly being held down for no other reason than they are white. A white male does not stand a chance at LSP.
Sound Off Louisiana is in the process of composing a table of all promotions since Davis took over to examine the troopers’ claims both that Davis is:
#1) looking no deeper than skin color or gender to promote assuming either a female and/or African American posts for the promotion and that, in so doing, he is
#2) causing a mass exodus of white male troopers from LSP.
We will periodically include the table of promotions and resignations/retirements as we get it compiled.
One thing we can’t help being reminded of is Davis’ focus on the public being frustrated at, “police officers being treated special” in that, when a private-sector employee engages in conduct such as Boyd did, that individual is fired and he or she, “doesn’t have all these rights.”
Davis made that statement at the February 11, 2021 meeting of the LSPC, and he made it to LSPC Member Sabrina Richardson, who has herself been the focus of an extensive payroll fraud investigation by Zurik. Let’s revisit Davis’ statement at this time:
2/11/21 LSPC Meeting: Richardson challenges LSP Col. Lamar Davis entailing troopers having leave restored when investigations drag on for extended periods of time.
We praised Davis for his above statement; however, given some of his recent actions, a year and a half after he made the above statements, we’re fully prepared right now to go ahead and declare Davis as one of the biggest hypocrites we’ve ever seen holding public office. Furthermore, we view him as nothing short of an absolute disgrace to the uniform he puts on each day!
If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops). Supply your email address within the subscribe box. You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.
Uggg… 2 wrongs don’t make a Right, but please don’t give me that “the white male has no chance as a Louisiana State Trooper” stuff. Try to sell that to the Green family… and yes I saw the black trooper on the video too. I don’t hate you guys but I hate that statement you just made!