Mayor appoints Stewart as chief
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CLINTON — Former Police Chief Eddie Stewart began running the town’s Police Department this week as an interim appointee of the mayor.
The town has had an interim, or acting, police chief since June 2007 because of differences between the mayors and aldermen in two administrations.
Mayor Don Reason, who took office in January, said he plans to submit Stewart’s name to the Board of Aldermen on Wednesday and expects a majority to agree with his appointment.
Under the town’s legislative charter, the mayor has sole authority to appoint a police chief, but the Board of Aldermen must concur to make the appointment final.
Stewart served as Clinton’s police chief for 12 years until he was forced out by then-Mayor Donald Jefferson in 2005.
Stewart said he briefly worked with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office after leaving the Clinton department and later with a private security firm that had Federal Emergency Management Agency contracts for Hurricane Katrina recovery.
More recently, Stewart has been employed by the state Department of Public Safety.
Stewart said he had been contacted by Reason and several aldermen about taking the post.
“I felt like the town of Clinton needed me more than the state did,” Stewart said of his decision to return to the department.
Reason also said he has appointed Troy Abshire as a captain in the department.
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