By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A veteran FBI agent in New Orleans has been tapped as the new police chief for the city of Mandeville, a suburb of New Orleans, the New Orleans Times-Picayune is reporting.
Percy “Rick” Richard III, who has served a special agent in New Orleans since 1991, supervises 15 agents and five surveillance specialists, the Times-Picayune reported.
He had served on a task force in Afghanistan and is a former state trooper, the paper said. He is a resident of Mandeville, a city of about 12,000 people.
Interim Mayor Edward “Bubby” Lyons announced Richard’s selection at a 2 p.m. news conference at City Hall.
The Mandeville Police Department has been without a chief since former Chief Tom Buell stepped down a year ago. Since then, Capt. Ron Ruple has served as the ranking officer in the agency. Ruple initially applied for the chief’s position but said he withdrew his name last week after the city’s Civil Service Board declined to offer strong enough protections for a chief that was dismissed.
