NEW ROADS - New Roads Police Chief Louis Hamilton tendered his resignation on Tuesday, following a series of reports by the WBRZ Investigative Unit. 

According to sources, Hamilton was asked to step down after recent issues in the department, including the arrest of Officer Quincy Lathers for selling drugs and the resignation of Assistant Chief John Chambliss, who shot a man having a mental health crisis.

Last year, former New Roads Police sergeant Stacy Paul was arrested for allegedly pawning his service weapons and a pregnant woman was hit by an officer riding an ATV at the annual Harvest Festival on False River. 

WBRZ has been trying to get in touch with Hamilton and New Roads Mayor Theron Smith for days. Neither has returned our calls. 

Hamilton is the third New Roads Police chief since 2024. 

In light of his departure, Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Rene Thibodeaux says he and his deputies are ready to step up.

"At the end of the day, the sheriff's office is the ultimate law enforcement in the parish, and in the past we've helped do that and my guys know what they're doing," Thibodeaux said. 

New Roads Councilman Kurt Kellerman told us Monday that merging the police department with the sheriff's office permanently has been discussed.

"I've thought in the past, if we did turn it to sheriff's department, which has been discussed, maybe we would have a public safety officer that would be a liaison between the sheriff's department and the mayor and the council," Kellerman said.

Thibodeaux says right now he doesn't believe the move is financially plausible for New Roads, and that he has concerns about the qualifications some of the officers may lack.

"I'm not sure of what their roster is. There is some hearsay that maybe some of them are not POST certified. If they're not, that's something that the councilmen and the mayor need to look into because I think that would be a liability issue on them."

We asked the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement for a list of current POST certified New Roads officers.

Seven on the list were current officers — including Chambliss and Hamilton — but the list also had several people who haven't worked there in years and a couple who had even passed away.

LCLE told us if the list was out of date, it's because New Roads has never updated it.