Louisiana State Police makes history with 3 African-American employees in leadership positions

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Louisiana State Police made history, as three African-American employees are now on the command staff on the force.

Colonel Lamar Davis was appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards back at the end of October 2020, to replace the retiring Colonel Kevin Reeves.

Two weeks ago at the beginning of January 2021, Captain Kenny Van Buren was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel over Investigations, and Captain Chavez Cammon was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel over Patrol.

“As I’ve been advised this is the first time there has been three African Americans at the command staff level. But what I will tell you, is regardless of that, my job as well as my heart is with all of our troopers. I supervise and manage all of our troopers. Regardless of what your race is, your sex, I am responsible for and to all of our troopers,” said Col. Davis.

Col. Davis tells WAFB he really looked at the two employees experience and qualifications when making the decision.

“Really when I looked at the needs of the agency, I really looked at my vision. I have a vision of making sure that, we have a job to make sure that we enforce the laws of the state, but we do so in a compassionate manner. But also looking at the unique qualifications of these men, a lot of their experience is what really shined when I ended up making that decision. They have unique experiences and qualifications and that’s what helped me really make those appointments.

Davis wants to move State Police forward following a number of controversies revealed in 2020, and hopes he can start bridging the gap between law enforcement and the community.

“We’re an agency, we’re a family, and that’s good and bad. And although there’s been some things that we need to work on, we need to get better at, I’m not worried about having a clean slate. I’m really concerned about making sure that I support and I do what I’m supposed to do. As I lead properly, then I believe that will take care of itself. I believe we will regain and gain trust not only within our agency, but within our communities, and that’s what’s important to me,” said Col. Davis.

Click here to report a typo.

Copyright 2021 WAFB. All rights reserved.