Opelousas Mayor Julius Alsandor told the people of his city that Police Chief Graig “Twin” Leblanc is in charge at the Police Department – and he has the mayor’s support.
“I’m going to support him as long as he sits in that seat,” Alsandor said during a media conference Thursday morning. “We still have to go forward.”
This week, the Opelousas Police Chief and his public information officer were both booked in connection with a December 2023 shooting that involved a third Opelousas officer – who was booked earlier this month.
The shooting happened at that officer’s home; Officer Savannah Butler is accused of shooting both the chief and his wife, St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputy Crystal Leblanc. The chief and his PIO are accused of other charges related to the incident. To read about that, click here and here . To read the detective’s affidavit about what is alleged to have occurred, click here .
The mayor said he wanted to be clear that the chief is an elected official, and that means no one can remove him from office – except the voters. Being accused of a crime does not mean someone is removed from office, he said. If someone is convicted of a felony, then removal could happen, but Leblanc has been convicted of nothing, he said.