HAMMOND, La. — Police Chief James Stewart has been fired after two and a half years leading the city’s police department.
Mayor Pete Panepinto met Thursday in a face-to-face meeting with Stewart and cited “philosophical differences” with the chief, according to the mayor’s office.
“I had hoped for a smoother transition in leadership, but Chief Stewart has chosen to leave his position immediately,” Panepinto said in a statement Friday. “The chief and I spoke this morning, and I thanked him for his service and wished him the best going forward.”
Panepinto was just re-elected to a second four-year term as mayor and will be sworn in next week. He hired Stewart, a former FBI agent and New Orleans police officer, in August 2016 after firing longtime Chief Roddy Devall in November 2015. He fired Devall, who had been placed on leave by the previous mayor for releasing the address and photograph of a police officer who had been arrested.
In 2017, a Tangipahoa Parish judge ruled Duvall's firing was improper.
The Hammond police chief serves at the mayor's discretion.
WWL-TV left a message for Stewart on his work voicemail, and he did not immediately respond.
City spokesperson Lisa Lambert declined to provide a separate statement from the chief, even though he was working his last day Friday.
Stewart did provide a statement to the Hammond Daily Star, which the newspaper posted on its Facebook page: "I enjoyed my time serving the city of Hammond and I appreciate the support our department received from the community. The mayor and I had philosophical differences on how a police department should be run so today will be my last day."
Lambert said the city would be posting advertisements to fill the job next week.
WWL-TV reporter David Hammer can be reached at dhammer@wwltv.com;