Bunkie police officer’s experience made for successful State Trooper career

January 1, 2020 is an important date for State Trooper Willie Williams. The date is circled in red because Officer Williams will be retiring from the Louisiana State Police after 20 years and 25 years overall in law enforcement.

The path to his special celebration on New Year’s Day was simple but not always easy. It started in Lemoyen, where he was born and raised. Lemoyen is a few miles south of Bunkie.

“I had been in the Louisiana National Guard and was looking around for some kind of employment,” he said. “I saw an ad in the paper where the Bunkie Police Department was looking for auxiliary officers, thought I’d give it a try and answered the ad.”

Mary Fanara was the Bunkie police chief at the time. Willie told her that he didn’t know anything and she replied that if he was willing, he would learn.

“Once I was hired she sent me to the Police Academy in Alexandria; I went with Mike Robertson,” (former mayor of Bunkie).

Willie considers Mary Fanara his “mother” in law enforcement. “She was an excellent chief and a better person.”

Fanara believed that training was key in having a good police department and Willie, as well as the other officers, were sent to many classes, seminars and schools to learn law enforcement skills.

“We were effective, treated everyone fairly and didn’t have to call in outsiders to help.” In the first year of Chief Fanara’s tenure the crime rate was down.

In his five years with BPD, Willie had been elevated to Chief of Detectives.

As will happen, an opportunity presented itself for Willie to better his career, and he submitted an application to the Louisiana State Police.

On April 20, 1999, he entered the State Police Academy in Baton Rouge for a grueling 22 week program.

“It was quite a training,” he emphasized, “strict and challenging but rewarding.”

Willie loved the challenge of being in the academy. “I enjoyed it,” he said thoughtfully, “there’s a certain mentality to being in the academy, I loved the challenge and the idea of helping people.”

The trainees stayed in the barracks Monday through Friday and went home on the weekends. But, as Willie said, “It was a very controlled break. We were there to become troopers and I didn’t want to do anything to ruin my chances.”

Even on weekends Willie was up early running, training and watching what he ate.

Willie proudly commented that he graduated from the academy in “Class #78 with 46 other new troopers. Scott Coco and Curtis Armand, we all graduated together.”

Willie, Coco and Armand were all hires of Chief Fanara and worked in the Bunkie PD together.

In September of 1999, new Louisiana State Trooper Willie Williams was assigned to Troop I in Lafayette in the patrol section.

It was a proud day for Willie, “I had become something I dreamed of. I’ve always felt the Louisiana State Troopers were the best, in the state, in the south and the country.”

He made that statement using superlatives and backed it up by saying, “We’ve had many other states come to Louisiana for training and none of ours go any other place unless it’s to teach a class.”

After a stint as a Public Information Officer, Willie went back into patrol and specifically in a DUI task force. “It was my most favorite assignment, getting drunks off the road.”

Most people never see the opposite side of a crash scene caused by an impaired driver, never have to go to a family to tell them their loved one is not coming home because of a drunk driver.

Willie felt every time he arrested a drunk driver he saved a life, someone else’s or the drunk’s.

The scenes he wants to forget are the crashes involving children who don’t survive.

“I can care less if someone drinks, my concern is getting on the road after too much to drink.”

As he prepares for retirement after a long and successful career in law enforcement Willie can say with deep conviction that he thanks God for all of it.

“I got into roadside confrontations but never hurt anyone nor was hurt.” He continued, “My mindset was to help as many people I could.”

For Willie, being a state trooper was all about service. As he retires from one form of service he enters into another form: serving the Lord as the pastor of Mount Triumph Baptist Church in Abbeville. It’s another opportunity to give of himself and save people.