Mamou Council votes not to hire James as village’s juvenile officer

MAMOU – Chateuse James’ plea to be hired as the Mamou Police Department’s juvenile officer fell upon deaf ears at Wednesday night’s Mamou Council meeting.
James said, “I understand the decision y’all have made with the motion. I am just asking y’all to give me a chance. I know it was not presented to y’all at first, what happened years ago, which I did pay my part to society.
“They hired me in Ville Platte, once I had this paper, which is my full pardon, and I went to work very hard with the Ville Platte Police Department.”
The personnel action recommendation to hire James as the juvenile officer was originally on the council’s July 13 agenda, but the item was tabled because a rate of pay had not been assigned to the position and Police Chief Brent Zackery did not attend the meeting.
On July 19, the council announced that there would be a special meeting on July 21, to discuss hiring James. On July 20, The Daily World reported that James had pleaded guilty to malfeasance in office stemming from incidents that occurred from December 2002 to May 2003. The Gazette obtained records on the events, including when James signed a plea agreement for two counts of malfeasance in office on April 29, 2004. The morning of July 21, staff from Mamou City Hall said that the special meeting had been canceled.
Personnel action recommendations were on the August 9 council agenda, and the vote whether to hire James was one of the actions.
Zackery said, “She is qualified for this job. She has attended classes. In order for me to get somebody else, we would have to spend a lot of money getting someone else. She has done this before. I know some things were brought up from the past.”
He continued, “This was expunged years ago. Also, she has been working as a police officer for nine years. Also she has been working nine years for civil service, working as a detective for the Ville Platte Police Department for nine years.”
Council member Freddie Manuel made the motion to hire James, and the motion was not seconded. Council member Jessica Fontenot was absent.
James was in attendance at the meeting, and Mayor Ricky Fontenot asked James if she wanted to address the council.
“I really have a passion to work with juveniles, so when he (the police chief) asked me the last time, I did put in my two weeks notice, however, the Wednesday, I was still there (in Ville Platte),” James said. “Y’all had y’alls meeting, and I was supposed to be hired and it was tabled.
“That’s the only reason why I left my job, and now I don’t have anything. I just beg, just give me a chance, don’t judge me for my past.”
James continued, “I know I will do a good job because I have a passion for kids and to work with them. I’m a church going lady. I teach Sunday school. I work with kids. All I wanted to do was come home and work with my own community. That’s all I wanted, just to come back and give to my community.”
Council member and mayor pro-tem Leisa Deshotel made the motion to go into an executive session. The council ultimately decided not to hire James to fill the juvenile officer position at the department.
Following the meeting, James acknowledged the past events that she believes are the reasons for her not being hired for the position.
“I had a boyfriend when I was working as Mamou’s juvenile officer,” James said. “He was some kind of way making contact with juvenile girls I had worked with. I had no knowledge of this.”
The Mamou Police Department began an investigation into allegations of carnal knowledge of a juvenile against Kevin Pitre in the spring of 2003. James said it was said she had brought work files home with her, but she said the files remained at the police department.
“When he (Pitre) went to court, I had a lawyer and everything,” James said. “They had it in their minds that I had the files at home. They were still at the police department. They said that if I plead guilty, he would probably get life in prison, and if I did not plead guilty, he would only go to jail for 10 or 15 years.”
James plead guilty to the two counts of malfeasance in office and served three years probation. When she completed her probation, James receive a pardon for her crimes. The pardon was granted on May 14, 2007 by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
James was then hired on at the Ville Platte Police Department on June 29, 2009. She worked four years in the department’s patrol division before working for five more years as a detective.
James said that following the cancellation of a special meeting, she was told she could “go back” to her old job at the Ville Platte Police Department, but that soon changed.
“Two days later, the chief called, and the assistant chief said ‘Let’s not bring back the past — the Black Panthers will come after us,’” James said.
Ville Platte Police Chief Neil Lartigue told The Gazette on Thursday James has not reapplied at the department, and he would have to review her application and she would have to go through the standard hiring process if she wanted to return to the city’s police force.
James said that after the cancellation of the Mamou council meeting, she received a message from the council that the Zackery wanted to revisit the possibility of hiring her at the police department.
“In revisiting the issue, I thought I would have a chance again (to have the job),” James said. “I spoke with several council members. One council member agreed to bring it up.”
James said in the council’s executive session, there were concerns about embarrassing her by bringing up the malfeasance charges.
“I’m already embarrassed,” she said. “I want to know why they don’t want to hire me. No one else spoke up at the meeting.
“I think it’s sad for someone to be judged by the character of their past. I admit I have a past. I paid my price. I have worked in law enforcement, and I would not bring corruption to law enforcement.”
James said she will be relocating in the near future, and she would still like to work as a law enforcement officer.
She said, “I hope to get back to work at as a juvenile officer because that is where my heart and passion are, even if I have to start from the bottom as a patrolman.