Superintendent Col. Kevin Reeves retires from Louisiana State Police, Gov. Edwards announces

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Colonel Kevin Reeves, the superintendent of Louisiana State Police (LSP), is retiring after 30 years with the law enforcement agency, Governor John Bel Edwards announced Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Gov. Edwards says Col. Reeves' retirement will be effective Friday, Oct. 30 and he will be naming a replacement in the coming days.

“I am deeply grateful to Col. Reeves for his decades of dedicated service as the consummate law enforcement professional committed to serving and protecting the people of Louisiana. Public safety has always been his highest priority,” Gov. Edwards said. “I have appreciated his partnership and counsel for the past several years as Superintendent, especially as Louisiana has navigated cyber security incidents, natural disasters, peaceful protests and the COVID pandemic. Throughout his career with Louisiana State Police, from his early time on motorcycle patrols to his promotion to Superintendent, Col. Reeves has been a model of professionalism. His experience made him a steady and strong leader in trying times, and I personally thank him and, on behalf of the state of Louisiana, I wish him and his family well in his much-deserved retirement.”

“It has truly been an honor to serve as superintendent of the Louisiana State Police and deputy secretary of the Department of Public Safety,” Col. Reeves said. “I am forever grateful to Governor Edwards for having the faith and confidence in me and, more importantly, for the support he provides the men and women of the Louisiana State Police. As humbling as this opportunity has been, my greatest professional accomplishment remains the title of Trooper, a title I have the honor of sharing with the over 1,100 men and women who wear our badge. Throughout my career, I have advocated for the men and women of the Louisiana State Police and the heroic work they do each and every day. They will always be family. As I reflect on my career, one thing is for certain, none of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of my family and I look forward to heading back to north Louisiana and spending more time with them.”

Reeves was appointed the 25th superintendent of LSP by Gov. Edwards in March of 2017. Reeves began his career with LSP in 1990 as a trooper on motorcycle patrols for Troop A in Baton Rouge.

His career in LSP brought him to Troop F in Monroe in 1993, where he served as a squad leader for the mobile field force and as a case agent and undercover agent on many narcotics investigations and operations for the Bureau of Investigations.

In 2008, he was promoted to troop commander of Troop F before assuming the role of command inspector of patrol operations and commander of the Statewide Mobile Field Force Team in 2013.

However, Reeves' time as superintendent has not been entirely free of controversy. Most notably perhaps, Reeves' leadership has been called into question over the death of Ronald Greene at the hands of troopers back in 2019.

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Right outside the Governor’s Mansion Tuesday night (Oct. 27), a little more than a dozen protesters met just hours after Reeves announced his retirement.

“Of course he retired because of the pressure. Of course they’re going to act like he didn’t,” said Jamal Taylor with the activist organization, The Village 337.

The protesters wanted to shed light on the Ronald Greene case and a lack of transparency.

“It is reprehensible what they did to Mr. Greene and for 18 months, the officer was allowed to continue to patrol until they found out about the recording,” said Taylor.

The 9News Investigators obtained audio from the body camera mic of Trooper Chirs Hollingsworth, who is now deceased, describing his interactions with Greene during that deadly traffic stop.

“We want all of the recordings that are available. The governor needs to release all of them. He has the right as the custodian of records of this state, and stop hiding behind some investigation,” said Taylor.

“I did want to acknowledge the tremendous career of public service by a very dedicated law enforcement professional and that is Kevin Reeves,” said Gov. Edwards Tuesday.

At the governor’s news conference, he said Col. Reeves told him back in 2019 he was planning to retire, and even though the governor says he knew this was eventually coming, with the sudden and quick departure, Gov. Edwards did not have a replacement ready.

“So it wasn’t a surprise and nor was it anything that I asked for, and so the reason for his retirement is one that you’ll have to ask him. I guess 30 years is enough,” said Gov. Edwards.

Reeves is also dealing with the fact that just a few weeks ago his son, Trooper Kaleb Reeves, was responding to another crash in Monroe when he rear-ended a car. That accident killed two people who were riding in the backseat of the car he hit.

READ MORE>>> LSP unit rear-ends, kills 2 while responding to crash in Monroe

The protesters want accountability and transparency from LSP about what happened to Greene.

“The governor is comfortable with vetoing bills, but uncomfortable giving justice to a mother, whose son was killed and lynched by state police,” said Taylor.

Gov. Edwards says he plans to announce Reeves' successor in the coming days.

The attorney for the Greene family released the following statement after the announcement of Reeves' retirement:

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