Eastern Seventh District supports Chief Neal Lartigue

With the recent negativity coming from Black Man Seven and the ACLU against Ville Platte Police Chief Neal Lartigue, members of Eastern Seventh District gathered together to issue a statement in support of Lartigue and his police department. The statement follows:

“I, Rev. E. Ben Sr., moderator, hereby announce on behalf of myself, and the Eastern Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association, my approval and pledged support of Chief of Police Neal Lartigue and the Ville Platte Police Department.

“I want you to know that you are not alone in your work and the discharge of your duties to the citizens of Ville Platte. We are with you. You’re doing a good job, and we support you. Please let us know what we can do to assist you in this great, important, and necessary task of law enforcement.

“The Eastern Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association is ever aware of the fact that the success of our great democracy in the United States of America is anchored on a foundation containing three basic elements, belief in Almighty God, law and order, and education. No village, community, town, city, state, or nation can long survive without these three elements being a part of its society.

“Effective law enforcement is a must and is essential to growth and the education and progress of any society. In the area of law enforcement you, Chief Lartigue, are doing a good job. My statements are echoed by other officers and members of the Eastern Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association.

“The late, great President Lyndon Johnson who once stated that ‘All Americans must have the right to vote,’ also stated ‘man and machine are not perfect.’ We take notice that as Chief of Police you are trying to educate and train within your department, and we appreciate your efforts.

“To those who come into our city voicing the complaints of citizens in our city, we invite you to contact us as leaders. We are not asleep nor unaware of existing problems. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Let us sit down at the table of brotherhood,” and iron out these problems.

“As the late President John F. Kennedy said, ‘Let us not fear to negotiate, but let us not negotiate out of fear.’

“The Eastern Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association invites all citizens to return to a decent society, recognize the need for God in our lives, and educate all our young people, for they are the future. Respect, support, and obey the law.

“May God bless our city, the state of Louisiana, and the United States of America,” Rev. Ben said.