ENROLLED
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
A RESOLUTION
To commend the current and former African American women who have served or are
serving on the Louisiana State Police force.
WHEREAS, in 1936, the Louisiana Legislature passed legislation creating the
State Police, which emerged from a highway commission in 1922 with a force of sixteen
men patrolling the highways on motorcycles to its current status of a state police force of one
thousand sixty-three men and women responsible for all elements of criminal and highway
safety interdiction in the state; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the Louisiana State Police is to ensure the safety and
security of the people in the state through enforcement, education, and providing of other
essential public safety services; and
WHEREAS, the office of state police is a state agency with an incredibly rich history
and with a motto of "Courtesy, Loyalty, Service"; and
WHEREAS, state troopers have faced obstacles from the time of inception of the
agency; however, historians have confirmed that their most challenging assignment, along
with the Louisiana National Guard, was being called to guard and protect civil rights
marchers in Bogalusa and, in 1965 and 1967, during which they had the task of trying to
prevent the violence and bloodshed that had scarred other cities across the nation during the
civil rights movement; and
WHEREAS, in 1972, Governor Edwin Edwards appointed Colonel Donald
Thibodeaux as Superintendent of State Police, and the colonel led the department through
many reforms, including allowing women to join the force in 1974; and
WHEREAS, it was not until 1976 when Trooper Joyce Stephanie Isaac Thibodeaux,
now deceased, who started her law enforcement career with the Lafayette City Police
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Department, became the first African American woman to join the Louisiana State Police;
and
WHEREAS, in 2019, there are only eight African American women who wear or
have worn the uniform; the retired and current African American women of the Louisiana
State Police force are the late Master Trooper Joyce Thibodeaux; retired Master Trooper
Joanne Rozigas; retired Lieutenant Charron Thomas; Lieutenant Treone Larvadain; Sergeant
Sanikka Williams; senior troopers Zuleika Joseph and Lisa Quijano; and troopers Melissa
George, Qualyndrea Jones, and Tiah Larvadain; and
WHEREAS, like all troopers serving the citizens of Louisiana, these eight women
have maintained the values of the Louisiana State Police since the day they graduated from
the academy: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage;
and
WHEREAS, without a doubt, these women are dedicated to their profession and they
are also dedicated to their families as wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters;
and
WHEREAS, in 2018, Lieutenant Treone Larvadain and Trooper Tiah Larvadain
became the first mother and daughter troopers in the eighty-two years of the Louisiana State
Police history; and
WHEREAS, among the most well-trained law enforcement officers in the country,
these troopers are proudly and courageously paving the way for others to follow and are
inspirations for all women to never give up on their dreams.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the African American women, past and
present, of the Louisiana State Police force for their law enforcement service.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
family of the late Joyce Thibodeaux, and to Joanne Rozigas, Charron Thomas, Treone
Larvadain, Sanikka Williams, Zuleika Joseph, Lisa Quijano, Melissa George, Qualyndrea
Jones, and Tiah Larvadain.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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