BATON ROUGE — Louisiana State Police on Friday honored the service of the agency's outgoing superintendent and welcomed the new head of the agency. 

At a "Change of Command Ceremony" at the LSP Training Academy Auditorium, Col. Robert Hodges handed off command of Louisiana State Police to Col. Frank Besson Jr., who will be the 28th Superintendent of LSP. 

Hodges served as a state trooper for 31 years serving as superintendent since 2024. He announced that he was stepping down in June.

Besson, originally from Grand Isle, started working with the Louisiana State Police in 1999 as a Patrol Trooper assigned to Troop C in Houma. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.