Broussard Assistant Police Chief Fired
The Broussard Police Department is now without its top two officers.
Two days after Chief Brannon Decou announced his retirement amid a sexual harassment scandal, his assistant chief, Chris Galvez, has been fired. The city council voted unanimously to dismiss Galvez during a special meeting Tuesday. According to the minutes of the meeting, the council fired Galvez "for failure to pursue employee complaints and causing a lack of confidence within the police department."
The council met in executive session prior to voting to fire Galvez. Because the executive session was closed to the public, records of what the council discussed during that session are not on the record and unavailable.
Galvez joined the Broussard Police Department in 2006 after serving four years with the New Iberia Police Department, Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, and Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office. In 2011, Galvez was promoted to lieutenant. In 2018, he was promoted to assistant chief.
The exits of the police department's top two officials comes nearly one month after a former Broussard police officer accused Decou of sending him sexually-charged text messages and Snapchat messages. The Snapchat messages included shirtless photos of Decou. Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque had opened an investigation into those allegations after they came to light.
On Monday, Decou announced his retirement effective June 1, ending his two decade run as the city's police chief.