Terminated officer’s appeal fails

The Ville Platte Fire and Police Civil Service Board denied an appeal made by a police officer who Police Chief Neal Lartigue terminated recently.
During the board’s meeting on Wednesday, April 8, the board chairman, David Ortego, read a letter the officer wrote to the board requesting the board schedule a hearing as part of the appeal process.
In the letter, the terminated officer acknowledged there had been complaints against him, including crashing a police patrol vehicle. The officer said he had been on duty for 27 hours before the crash, causing him to be tired at the time of the crash.
After the letter was read, board members discussed details of the case, including the fact that the terminated police officer, who was hired in August 2014, had not taken the civil service qualifying test for police officers.
Police who are hired, who have not taken the civil service qualification test, are hired on a provisional basis and are given 90 days to take the test. The state administers the test several times a year, in several locations around the state.
The board members agreed that the civil service board only represents fire and police department employees who have passed the test and have become civil service classified employees. They also agreed that even if they held a hearing on the former employee’s appeal, the board could take no action on the matter, such as reinstating the terminated officer.
The board members unanimously voted to deny the officer’s request for a hearing on his appeal.
In other civil service business, board members voted to accept letters of resignation of three police officers and to confirm the status of three officers who had passed the civil service qualification test. Those three were provisional hires and are now covered by civil service representation.