Deputy Kenneth Tramble, a long-standing member of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office and the founder of the Deputies Making A Change Program (DMAC), has been reassigned to the Ouachita Parish Correctional Center, also known as the “Pea Farm.”
This move comes in the aftermath of the recent Sheriff’s election, after Tramble refused to endorse or oppose either candidate.
Tramble, who started his career in law enforcement in the 1990s, established the DMAC program in 1998 under the leadership of then-Sheriff Chuck Cook. The DMAC program aims to mentor about 30 youth annually, with full-time African-American Sheriff’s Deputies as mentors.
However, the program and Tramble’s career have been caught in the crossfire of political dynamics within the Sheriff’s office, mostly because Tramble refused to participate in Sheriff Department politics.
The DMAC program faced a setback when Cook lost his re-election bid and was subsequently sidelined by the new administration. Tramble resigned from law enforcement but returned in 2012 when Sheriff Jay Russell reinstated DMAC. Despite being the brainchild of the program, Tramble was not appointed to lead it; instead, Deputy Eric McElroy was named the head, with Tramble serving as his assistant.
Tramble remained a deputy and was never promoted.
The recent sheriff’s election further complicated matters. Lt. McElroy…
