Broussard’s new police chief is officially in office. 

Vance Olivier took his oath of office on Monday. He says he’s ready to get to work.

“It’s something you always work for," Olivier said. "It was always a thought of mine working for the police department--maybe one day having this opportunity. When the opportunity came, it was really exciting for me.” 

Oliver says he’ll spend the coming days getting acclimated to his new department. The former Lafayette police sergeant says he wants to open a line of communication with his officers and the residents of Broussard. 

That, he says, will lead to a much larger goal. 

“Getting the department back on the right track and making sure we’re opening up to the guys and opening up to the administration and have an open dialogue," Olivier. "We never had that before. We’ll open up to the council and see what their needs are, and also the citizens of Broussard. We want to know what they need and what they expect of the police department and provide them with professional police services. That’s what we do. We work for the community.” 

Mayor Ray Bourque says Olivier’s experience as both an officer and as an administrator and a leader within the Lafayette Police Department stood out during the interview process. 

“We have a lot of confidence in Vance, our choice as interim chief of police," Bourque said. "It’s a good day to be moving forward to give our police department a new leader so we can start focusing on police business.”  

That experience will allow Oliver to tap into resources that, he says, will make the department more efficient. 

“(We want to be) more proactive," Olivier said. "We have a lot of resources from the outside we want to bring in, like the sheriff’s office and their detectives. In a town like Broussard, they don’t have some of the resources that are available, but we’re going to rely on the sheriff’s office and all the surrounding agencies to provide us with the best resources so we can provide the best police services for the citizens of Broussard. They deserve it.”

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