Louisiana State Police Leader: Agency Facing Darkest Days

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The leader of the Louisiana State Police says his agency is facing some of the "darkest days" it's ever had, rocked by scandals left behind by his predecessor.

Col. Kevin Reeves said Monday that morale has taken a hit in the department. But he said the controversies stem from "the actions of a few" and don't reflect the conduct of the entire state police agency.

Reeves became superintendent in March, after Mike Edmonson resigned amid controversy over troopers' billing of taxpayers for overtime and expenses on a road trip in which they took sightseeing trips to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

A state police report accuses Edmonson of knowing about the side trip and deleting text messages during the investigation.

Other questions have been raised about Edmonson's spending practices.

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