New police chief in Erath

ERATH - It was a no brainer to appoint Erath assistant chief of police Anna Baudoin LaPointe as the interim chief of police of the town of Erath.
The Erath aldermen voted 3-0, with one alderman abstaining from voting, to name LaPointe the new chief.
Alderman Guy Nerren did not vote for LaPointe because he said he plans to run for chief of police in March.
LaPointe will serve as chief until a special election is called in March to elect a new chief. The winner of that race will be chief of Erath until the regular election in 2018. She plans to throw her name into the race for chief in March.
LaPointe, who is from Kaplan, was named the chief because of the death of long-time police chief Gerald Hebert, who lost his life after a battle with cancer. Hebert had been the chief in Erath for nine years and LaPointe worked along side of Hebert for all nine years.
Before Hebert died, he wrote a letter to the aldermen recommending that LaPointe be named interim chief after he passes.
LaPointe, 35, and Hebert worked side-by-side for 9 1/2 years. She helped him write grants that helped land the police department needed money to help purchase vehicles, equipment and video cameras that were installed throughout the town of Erath.
Over the last year, with Hebert battling chemo, LaPointe and other officers helped pick up the slack. She said she is not worried about other Erath police officers taking orders from a woman chief because she described the department as
“family.”
“I want to keep that family atmosphere,” she said.
LaPointe also wants to tell the community nothing is going to change and she plans to continue the work that Hebert has done for the last nine years.
“We are going to continue the community service. That is major for this community, and it is what Chief Hebert wanted,” she said.
LaPointe becomes the second female chief of police in Vermilion Parish.
Kayla Henry is the female police chief in Gueydan.
LaPointe is married and has two teenagers who attend Erath High School.