Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard joins Discover Lafayette for a candid and wide-ranging conversation about nearly three decades in law enforcement, the rapid evolution of policing technology, and the realities of leading a modern police department in one of Louisiana’s fastest-growing communities.
Appointed Lafayette Chief of Police in February 2025 after serving as interim chief, Trouard brings more than 28 years of law enforcement experience to the role. A graduate of the FBI National Academy, he also holds a master’s degree in organizational management and leadership from Columbia Southern University, a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and an undergraduate criminal justice certificate from the University of Virginia. Trouard additionally served as a staff sergeant in the Louisiana National Guard.
Recorded at the LFT Fiber Connectivity Summit on March 19, 2026, at Vermilionville, the interview explores how technology and connectivity now shape virtually every aspect of policing. Trouard vividly contrasts today’s real-time emergency response systems with the realities officers faced when he first joined the force nearly 30 years ago. “Dispatch would get a phone call from 911. They would write down the call on the card, they’d put the card in a bin with your name on it,” he recalled. Officers relied on paper maps and radio instructions, often struggling to locate addresses in the middle of the night. “Something that might have taken 10, 15, 20 minutes in the past for us to figure out where we’re going now takes only seconds.”
Today, Trouard says, “Lafayette’s emergency response network is driven by GPS-enabled dispatching, real-time camera feeds, data terminals inside patrol vehicles, and a growing drone program that can assist officers before they even arrive at a scene. The technology has changed so fast over the last few years.”
Trouard shares that he knew by middle school that law enforcement would become his career. Drawn to public service by his family background, he says Lafayette Police Department’s college assistance program helped solidify his decision to relocate from Calcasieu Parish to Lafayette. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “There’s nothing like it. Every call is different. You actually can help the public.”
Chief Trouard’s career path within the department reflects nearly every major operational area of policing. After beginning on patrol, he spent years training recruits in the field training unit before moving into financial crimes investigations and eventually homicide. Trouard still vividly remembers his first homicide case. “They sent me out on a homicide call and I solved it the first night,” he said. “I found out that that’s exactly what I wanted to do.”
Much of his career was spent supervising homicide and violent crimes investigations, eventually rising through the ranks to captain before unexpectedly stepping into department leadership. “People don’t realize that we’re trained to do law enforcement,” Trouard explained. “But now you’re running the department, you’re doing the finances, you’re doing the policy, you’re doing all the internal affairs complaints. You have to learn to run the business.”
“We have about 285 officers right now and are allocated 300. So we’re recruiting. We’re hiring if anybody’s interested. You need to be 21 years of age with a high school diploma. We’ll take care of the rest. We have an education program where you can come and take college credits and the Police Department will pay for it.”
Trouard says one of his immediate priorities as chief was improving officer retention and modernization. “There are three things that keep an officer with an agency,” he said. “Number one is agency reputation. Number two is the equipment. Number three is pay.” Under his leadership, Lafayette Police replaced major equipment including radios, weaponry, and in-car data terminals.
The conversation also dives deeply into Lafayette’s recent crime trends. Trouard notes that Lafayette has seen a significant reduction in homicides during the past two years. “Three years ago we had 29 homicides,” he said. “This past year we’re down to ten homicides with all of them closed.” He attributes part of that decline to strategic changes targeting major narcotics suppliers rather than street-level offenders. “We’re on I-10 and I-49. We’re on a drug corridor,” Trouard explained. “If you take drugs off the street, you take guns off the street, things get real quiet.”
Trouard also stresses the importance of citizen awareness and community involvement in crime prevention. “Eighty-five percent of vehicle burglaries are unlocked vehicles,” he said, adding that many stolen firearms originate from unsecured vehicles. “If you see something, say something,” remains one of the department’s guiding principles.
A significant portion of the interview focuses on large-scale public safety coordination during Mardi Gras, festivals, hurricanes, and other major events. Trouard describes how Lafayette’s Emergency Operations Center now places police, fire, EMS, roads and bridges, transit personnel, and dispatchers together in the same room for immediate decision-making. “The sharing of information is immediate,” he said. “It’s not picking up a phone and hoping that you have the right extension. It’s looking at the person across the table saying, ‘Hey, I need help.’”
Following the deadly 2025 vehicle attack in New Orleans, Trouard says Lafayette completely redesigned its Mardi Gras security strategy. “We basically took our Mardi Gras book after that happened and threw it in the trash,” he explained. New protective barriers, buses used as crowd shields, expanded drone operations, explosive-detection dogs, undercover officers, and enhanced surveillance measures were all implemented to improve public safety. “Quiet is good,” Trouard says. “That’s what we want.”
The interview additionally highlights growing regional cooperation among law enforcement agencies throughout Lafayette Parish, including Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office and police departments in Scott, Youngsville, Broussard, and Carencro. Trouard describes a culture of collaboration during emergencies and major events, noting that agencies routinely share manpower, technology, and resources.
One of the most moving moments of the conversation comes when Trouard reflects on the emotional weight of homicide investigations and the responsibility investigators carry for victims’ families. “Standing next to the victim’s family when you get a guilty verdict is probably some of the strongest memories that I have,” he says. “Knowing that you brought them justice, that you resolved the case for them, that you put the bad guy in jail.”
Trouard also emphasizes that modern policing involves far more than arrests and enforcement. He shares the story of Lieutenant Jarvis Mayfield, who helped an elderly woman obtain custody of her grandson and personally assisted her in enrolling the child in school. “We’re not always out there just writing tickets and taking people to jail,” Trouard said. “There’s a different side to us and that happens every day.”
As Lafayette continues to grow, Trouard says the department remains focused on modernization, recruitment, and maintaining public trust. “Our department is strong,” he said. “We’re doing great. We’re well funded. We’re well supported by the mayor’s office. We’re ever changing, ever growing, and always looking for new and enthusiastic people to come join our agency.”
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