Shreveport Councilman Calls for ‘No Confidence’ Vote on Police Chief Raymond

Shreveport City Councilman Jerry Bowman is calling for a vote of confidence on the city's Police Chief Ben Raymond. The District G representative says he's not the only lawmaker who wants to find new ways to deal with the city's growing violent crime problem. Bowman says what we are doing now is just not working.

Bowman says he is not only prepared to move forward with the vote on Raymond, but that he would vote to replace the Chief.

Here's what Bowman told KEEL News:

"I want everyone to know that I have the utmost respect for our police department, I just feel we need to go in another direction as far as leadership is concerned" he says.

And if a Council vote on Raymond took place, how would Bowman vote? "I would definitely go with no-confidence."

But then the Councilman adds that he doesn't blame the Chief for the city's violent crime surge. "I can't do that. He's definitely not the one who's putting the guns in the hands of these bad actors we have," Bowman says, then explains his concerns with the Raymond regime, "Number one, we have so many vacant positions to fill. I'm not looking at the person who's doing the recruiting, I'm looking at the leader over the recruiter."

And is Bowman leading the not-so-behind-the-scenes charge to replace the Chief? "I'm the one who's vocal about it, yes," adding that he's not alone in his dissatisfaction with Raymond's performance.

A special Shreveport City Council meeting to address Raymond and the city's increasing violent crime numbers could come as soon as Friday.