HLS 19RS-3584 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 286
BY REPRESENTATIVES TERRY LANDRY, BAGNERIS, BOUIE, BRASS,
CARPENTER, GARY CARTER, COX, DUPLESSIS, FRANKLIN, GAINES,
GLOVER, JIMMY HARRIS, JACKSON, JAMES, JEFFERSON, JENKINS,
JORDAN, LARVADAIN, LYONS, MARCELLE, DUSTIN MILLER, MOORE,
NORTON, PIERRE, AND SMITH
COMMENDATIONS: Commends the current and former African American women who
have served or are serving on the Louisiana State Police force
1 A RESOLUTION
2To commend the current and former African American women who have served or are
3 serving on the Louisiana State Police force.
4 WHEREAS, in 1936, the Louisiana Legislature passed legislation creating the
5State Police, which emerged from a highway commission in 1922 with a force of sixteen
6men patrolling the highways on motorcycles to its current status of a state police force of one
7thousand sixty-three men and women responsible for all elements of criminal and highway
8safety interdiction in the state; and
9 WHEREAS, the mission of the Louisiana State Police is to ensure the safety and
10security of the people in the state through enforcement, education, and providing of other
11essential public safety services; and
12 WHEREAS, the office of state police is a state agency with an incredibly rich history
13and with a motto of "Courtesy, Loyalty, Service"; and
14 WHEREAS, state troopers have faced obstacles from the time of inception of the
15agency; however, historians have confirmed that their most challenging assignment, along
16with the Louisiana National Guard, was being called to guard and protect civil rights
17marchers in Bogalusa and, in 1965 and 1967, during which they had the task of trying to
18prevent the violence and bloodshed that had scarred other cities across the nation during the
19civil rights movement; and
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HR NO. 286
1 WHEREAS, in 1972, Governor Edwin Edwards appointed Colonel Donald
2Thibodeaux as Superintendent of State Police, and the colonel led the department through
3many reforms, including allowing women to join the force in 1974; and
4 WHEREAS, it was not until 1976 when Trooper Joyce Stephanie Isaac Thibodeaux,
5now deceased, who started her law enforcement career with the Lafayette City Police
6Department, became the first African American woman to join the Louisiana State Police;
7and
8 WHEREAS, in 2019, there are only eight African American women who wear or
9have worn the uniform; the retired and current African American women of the Louisiana
10State Police force are the late Master Trooper Joyce Thibodeaux; retired Master Trooper
11Joanne Rozigas; retired Lieutenant Charron Thomas; Lieutenant Treone Larvadain; Sergeant
12Sanikka Williams; senior troopers Zuleika Joseph and Lisa Quijano; and troopers Melissa
13George, Qualyndrea Jones, and Tiah Larvadain; and
14 WHEREAS, like all troopers serving the citizens of Louisiana, these eight women
15have maintained the values of the Louisiana State Police since the day they graduated from
16the academy: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage;
17and
18 WHEREAS, without a doubt, these women are dedicated to their profession and they
19are also dedicated to their families as wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters;
20and
21 WHEREAS, in 2018, Lieutenant Treone Larvadain and Trooper Tiah Larvadain
22became the first mother and daughter troopers in the eighty-two years of the Louisiana State
23Police history; and
24 WHEREAS, among the most well-trained law enforcement officers in the country,
25these troopers are proudly and courageously paving the way for others to follow and are
26inspirations for all women to never give up on their dreams.
27 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
28Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the African American women, past and
29present, of the Louisiana State Police force for their law enforcement service.
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HR NO. 286
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2family of the late Joyce Thibodeaux, and to Joanne Rozigas, Charron Thomas, Treone
3Larvadain, Sanikka Williams, Zuleika Joseph, Lisa Quijano, Melissa George, Qualyndrea
4Jones, and Tiah Larvadain.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 286 Original 2019 Regular Session Terry Landry
Commends the current and former African American women of the La. State Police.
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