MONROE, La. – Former interim Monroe Police Chief Reginald “Reggie” Brown wants subpoenas issued to 34 people including former Mayor Jamie Mayo and the district attorney to testify in a hearing where he will appeal his termination from the police department.
Now-Monroe Police Chief Vic Zordan fired Brown last November, claiming Brown purposefully waited until after the city’s mayoral election last July before asking authorities to investigate an excessive force complaint against some of the department’s officers.
Early last year, Timothy Williams complained that then-Monroe Police Cpl. Jared DeSadier beat him and kicked him while he was lying, handcuffed, face-down on the ground during an arrest. DeSadier resigned from the department and now faces felony charges of malfeasance in office and second-degree battery.
According to a Nov. 23, 2020 letter terminating Brown’s employment, Brown waited to act on Williams’ complaint for personal gain. At the time, Brown was serving as the department’s interim police chief. He was appointed to that position by Mayo, who was seeking re-election.
Mayo was unseated by local businessman Friday Ellis, who captured more than 50 percent of the vote in the July mayoral primary. After taking office, Ellis removed Brown as interim chief and eventually appointed Zordan.
Brown appealed his termination to the Monroe Municipal Fire & Police Civil Service Board. The Civil Service Board has scheduled an appeal hearing for April 29.
“That’s a tentative date,” said Civil Service Board Chairman Hardeman Cordell during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday.
The Civil Service Board is a quasi-judicial body that has the authority to issue subpoenas, hear testimony from witnesses and more, according to Monroe attorney Elmer Noah. Noah serves as the Civil Service Board’s legal counsel. Noah told The Ouachita Citizen the Civil Service Board had the discretion to decide who was issued a subpoena.
