New Mandeville Police Chief Percy “Rick” Richard said his first month and a half on the job have been “the most rewarding time in my professional life in the last 15 years.”

He said when he leaves the office in the afternoon he does so with a “great sense of accomplishment.”

The former FBI special agent said his future plans always included working for the city of Mandeville in some fashion and when former chief Tom Buell was forced into early retirement in early 2009, he felt with his expertise, the chief’s position was a logical job for him to seek.

Percy “Rick” Richard

“This job only come around once,” he said. “I live in this city, and I really wanted to give something back. I’ve served the state and I’ve served the federal government. It’s time for me to serve the community.”

After hearing of Buell’s departure, Richard said he immediately met with then mayor Eddie Price and made known his interest in the job. However, he agrees that was not the time to make an appointment.

In January after being asked to step in as interim mayor, Edward “Bubby” Lyons, began accepting resumes and interviewing individuals to fill the vacant chief’s position. Among the people interviewed was Richard, the only applicant who lived inside the city limits.

Richard said he feels living in the city helps him to be a better chief because he has a stake in how the department operates.

He plans to stay in the position, if allowed by the incoming mayor and all future mayors, “until it is no longer fun.”

However, he said he would limit himself to 10 years, because he feels no chief should serve more than that.

“You need to bring in fresh blood.”

While some of the changes Richard has already made are not as evident from the outside, some of the changes he will make in the near future will be very visible to the public.

He plans to repaint the police cruisers to a more traditional black and white.

“This signifies a change for us, and we are making great strides coming out from the past.”

He also moved the criminal investigations division out of the main department and into the old City Hall building in Old Mandeville. This, he said, was done partly to give them more room but also because he wanted a separation between the patrol officers and the detectives and to eliminate the need for suspects and witnesses to walk through the entire department when they come to meet with the detectives.

Some of the more subtle changes include increased emphasis on training.

Cpl. Paul Bourque, who handled training for the department in addition to serving as a patrol officer, is now doing training full time for the department.

Richard said under his predecessor, training was not a priority and was treated with a “catch as catch can” attitude.

“The requirements were meet but nothing more.”

Richard said his philosophy of preparing for the future and not merely living in the present does not allow for that.

“It is a new day for the Mandeville Police Department,” he said, adding that he has an 18-month blueprint and if everything falls into place as he plans, “we should be the best department on the Northshore.”

In the more immediate future, Richard said he will fill some vacant positions in the department.

He will accomplish this through hiring two new officers and promoting from within to fill the empty lieutenant and sergeant positions.

He hopes to hire the two new officers within the next month and then to make the promotions within the next three months.

As he takes over the department, Richard said he is doing so with a “community policing oriented philosophy.”

He is making his rounds meeting as many resident as possible and speaking before local civics groups.

He said he wants residents to know that if they have an issue, he wants them to come to him personally and they do not have to go through the mayor or their councilperson.

“I rather jump on something quick and get it from the source,” he said.

Contrary to what he thought before he took the job, Richard said the department is in good shape and “has a lot of experience previously untapped.”

He plans to tap into that experience and delegate more authority and responsibility as he takes the department into the future.K