In his traditional police blues, his right hand raised, and a smile on his face, Thedrick Andres on Tuesday night was officially sworn in as Henderson’s top cop.
The ceremony comes about a month after Police Chief Andres was officially appointed to his position following an interim period after the former chief was dismissed in March.
Henderson Police posted a photo of the ceremony on social media. “Our department is as proud as we can be to welcome him as our leader. ... There are big aspirations ahead and we cannot wait!” said a post that accompanied the image.
After the former police chief, LaTesha Watson, was hired by Henderson, she tapped Andres as her deputy chief, whom she’d worked with in Arlington, Texas.
In her 16-month stint, Watson had a tumultuous relationship with her boss, Henderson Deputy City Manager Bristol Ellington, and a police union. She survived after a series of investigations, which cost the city more than $50,000, that determined there were morale issues that didn’t amount to policy violations. However, a separate probe conducted by the same third-party law firm recommended her firing.
Watson allegedly disobeyed Ellington by changing promotion guidelines for captain positions, and she suggested that she had ears in executive board meetings of the union, which represents sergeants and lieutenants within the agency, according to investigative documents.
Andres has also worked for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections at the state penitentiary, and the New Orleans Police Department.
Andres, who has a wife and two children, has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in criminal justice from Southern University.