Former Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Mike “party down” Edmonson (left) and presumed Louisiana Sheriff’s Association-backed LSP future Colonel Frank Besson (right – a/k/a by many current and recently-retired troopers as “Edmonson 2.0.”)
In today’s Sound Off Louisiana feature, founder Robert Burns openly poses the question of Governor-Elect Jeff Landry regarding whether he will continue the pattern of his two most-recent predecessors, Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards, and merely appoint as Louisiana State Police (LSP) Colonel whomever the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association dictates to him he’ll appoint. Burns further states the belief of many current and recently-retired troopers that doing so will merely perpetuate the 15-year downward spiral that has transpired at LSP since former Colonel Edmonson was appointed in early 2008. Here’s the feature (and please excuse the intermittent blurriness of the picture):
10/22/23: Burns provides an admonition to Governor-Elect Jeff Landry entailing his LSP Colonel appointment similarly to that he provided to then-Governor-Elect John Bel Edwards on December 8, 2015. [Again, we apologize for the intermittent blurriness of the video.]
Here are links for the disciplinary record of former Col. Edmonson prior to his appointment in 2008, all of which the Jindal Administration either ignored or failed to even vet Edmonson and merely let the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association dictate the appointment (or both):
1. Reprimand for crashing LSP vehicle and being at fault.
2. 10-Day Suspension for violating payroll protocol.
3. Letter of reprimand for careless operation of vehicle.
4. 40-Hour Suspension for “not being aware of
your condition” behind the wheel and crashing yet another
vehicle (with it being a total loss).
5. 16-Hour suspension for careless operation of vehicle.
As stated on the video above, over the next few weeks, we’ll be highlighting various problematic occurrences within LSP which are transpiring in real time.
As we indicated on our most recent feature, Landry is inheriting one hell of a mess at LSP, and the hope is that he won’t just act in a “business as usual” manner and thereby perpetuate the 15-year downward spiral that LSP has endured since Edmonson’s appointment in early 2008 as Bobby Jindal began his tenure as Governor of Louisiana.
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Probably. In my opinion, he is a create of the almighty back scratcher.