by Wesley Harris
Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson held his first “Chat with the Chief” session with local citizens Monday night, outlining some of his vision for the agency and fielding numerous questions from the audience.
The meeting in the King’s Funeral Home chapel is the first of several anticipated informal “chats” with the new chief aimed at community engagement and open dialogue.
Watson was introduced by host Carolyn Cage, a member of the Ruston City Council who also serves on the staff at King’s.
As a brief opening statement, Watson related his background as a “small town kid” from Arcadia who attended Simsboro School, Cedar Creek, and Louisiana Tech who worked several years as a patrol officer for RPD before moving on to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for 25 years.
Watson said he and his wife of 32 years loved their time living in Ruston in the 90s, so he was very interested in returning to Ruston when the chief’s position opened up.
He then launched into several topics, including his vision for the Ruston Police Department, his desire to substantially increase the agency’s use of technology in fighting crime, and the challenges of properly staffing the organization with quality officers.
Following the presentation, Watson invited questions from citizens, who queried him on subjects ranging from an unresolved homicide to how the department handles the mentally ill to complaints about speeders on certain streets.
Vision
Watson said he expects RPD officers to work proactively while interacting with the public positively.
“I’ve told the guys . . . that I intend for this police department to take on a little bit different look while I’m here,” Watson said. “And that’s not disparaging the police department now. But I believe that law enforcement should always be a professional organization. And in doing so, we should look professional, and we should address the public in a professional way . . . And I feel like if we have enough people saying that they had a positive encounter, the number that say they had a negative encounter is going to go down.”
“One of the first things that I told the guys when I started work here [is], we’re not a police department that’s going to sit in a parking lot looking at Netflix all night. We are not that department.” He described officers being proactive in searching for criminal activity while treating the public with respect.
Technology
Watson said he and Mayor Ronny Walker are working with federal representatives to secure major grants for new policing technology. “It’s going to be expensive,” Watson said, but noted indications that federal funding is a strong possibility.
Included in Watson’s proposal are better body-worn and in-car video cameras, surveillance cameras in strategic locations that dispatchers can see when receiving calls of trouble, and license plate readers. Watson envisions a technology center housed at city hall where staff can monitor ongoing situations almost immediately before patrol officers ever reach the scene.
Watson said he loves body-worn cameras. “I’m telling you right now, it saves my officers on complaints,” he said. “If I get a complaint about something that happened on a traffic stop, I go straight in there, turn the computer on and watch the video and I can see everything that happened. Remarkably, it changes a lot of people’s minds when they want to file that complaint.”
He noted those videos usually exonerate officers rather than confirm bad behavior.
Staffing
One of the hurdles the department must jump according to Watson is the need for more staffing but it’s difficult to find highly qualified applicants.
“We are trying very hard to hire people right now,” Watson said. “When I left the police department—this is a little bit embarrassing—in 1998, we had about 40 police officers. Right now, on the streets in Ruston, I have 32.” Divide that by four shifts, he said, and that’s few officers working at any given time.
Mayor Walker interjected, “There’s two departments that can hire until I tell them to stop: fire and police. . . because that’s public safety. And I guarantee you everybody in this room wants public safety to be number one on my chart.”
Along with staffing comes the need for increased funding for training, the chief added.
Questions
Once Watson invited public comment, he fielded about two dozen questions. One woman asked about the status of a homicide case. Watson said RPD had made an arrest, but the suspect had not been indicted. Several complained about traffic issues such as speeders. Watson acknowledged he receives similar calls about traffic every week and that the agency uses a court-funded overtime program for officers to conduct traffic enforcement on days when they aren’t working their regular shifts.
A lengthy discussion covered the frustrations of limited options for effectively dealing with the mentally ill, an issue Watson said is as exasperating for police as it is for the public.
Other questions asked about the presence of gangs and human trafficking in the area.
Watson pleaded for the public’s help in the fight against crime, citing a homicide on Easter Sunday when approximately 100 people were present, but RPD did not receive a single phone call with information about the crime. He also asked for patience as the police department evolves.
“I want you to know we’re going to make mistakes,” Watson stated. “You know, anytime somebody’s trying to change things and make it better, there’s going to be mistakes. And we’re going to look back and go, eh, I probably shouldn’t have done it that way. I should probably do it this way.
“I told the mayor, look back next March—March will be a year that I went to work here—and look at this police department in a year. And I think you’ll see some positive changes for everybody.”
Watson and Mayor Walker thanked those present for their engagement and feedback. Both stressed ongoing openness to public input and the importance of mutual respect and partnership for community safety going forward.
Watson is available to schedule a “chat with the chief” with any entity by calling the chief’s secretary at 318-255-4141.
