PORT ALLEN — A police officer disciplined by two police chiefs and who has been investigated at least twice for alleged misconduct now faces City Council dismissal proceedings, a Police Department lawyer said Thursday.
Jill Craft, speaking on behalf of the Police Department, said Patrol Officer Jasmione Clark is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation. She did not elaborate on the scope of the inquiry.
“What I can say is that Police Chief Ken Bates has recommended that Officer Jasmione Clark be terminated,” Craft said.
Chief Bates also declined Thursday to speak about the matter in detail, but said that he expects to discuss Clark with the City Council at a yet-to-be scheduled special meeting.
Bates further confirmed that since taking over as police chief in November, Clark has been placed on paid leave, allowed to return to work under the condition that he be chaperoned by a higher-ranking officer while on patrol and then ordered back on paid leave, where he remained as of Thursday.
“The issues with this particular individual happened before I took over as chief,” Bates said.
Additionally, 18th Judicial District Prosecutor Tony Clayton said this week that he’s asked the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office to conduct “a full investigation” into allegations made against Clark.
“I will review the Sheriff’s Office findings and take it from there,” Clayton said.
Clark was the subject of a heated Oct. 12 City Council meeting, during which Mayor Pro-Tem Ralph Bergeron advised residents not to say the officer’s name publicly.
In an angry back-and-forth between residents in the audience and then-Police Chief Fred Smith, audience members called for the officer to be fired.
Smith chose instead to place Clark on desk duty until State Police could investigate complaints made against him.
Port Allen resident Nikisha Joseph spoke out against the officer at the Oct. 12 meeting. She later confirmed that she was talking about Clark.
On Thursday, Joseph elaborated in an interview, saying Clark choked her cousin until he fell to the ground unconscious during a Sept. 24 traffic stop on North 14th Street.
Joseph said her cousin, Brandon Whaley, 27, was “bloody and scratched up,” when he arrived at the police station and had to be treated by paramedics.
“It was pretty severe,” Joseph said. “He could have died.”