by Bob Walsh
Port Allen, Louisiana is kind of unusual in the U. S. in that their Chief of Police is elected. He is now on the receiving end of a civil suit by a former officer for prosletyzing on the job.
Patrick Marshall asserts that Chief Esdron Brown violated his constitutional rights by DEMANDING that he attend religious counselling with the department chaplain, and threatened to fire or suspend him if he refused. He also allegedly passed Marshall over for promotion in favor of less qualified applicants who went to the same church as Chief Brown. The Chief is alleged to have regular said that he wanted a "SAVED" department.
When Marshall complained to the Mayor the Mayor allegedly ordered him to attend anger management classes and suspended his Thanksgiving vacation. Marshall had worked for Port Allen since 2006 and is currently employed by another department in the area.
Brown has been the Chief since 2013 and was elected to a second four-year term in 2016. The department has a very high turn-over rate. In the last five years they have hired 28 officers, 14 of whom have since left that department.
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