The Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) (French: Département de Police de Bâton Rouge) is the primary
law enforcement agency
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
in the city of
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
,
Louisiana. The
Chief of Police, as of March 8, 2018, was Murphy Paul.
The BRPD was formally established in 1865, just after the end of the
Civil War, with the appointment of the first Chief of Police.
The BRPD has a history of
police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
against Blacks and strained relations with the black community in Baton Rouge. Most recently, in 2016, two BRPD officers
shot and killed Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, while trying to detain him. The
police killing
Following are lists of killings by law enforcement officers.
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** List of ki ...
lead to protests and demonstrations in Baton Rouge and elsewhere, leading to the arrests of hundreds of individuals. Due to the violence and arrests that erupted at these protests, local organizing groups and the Louisiana branch of the
American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Baton Route Police Department for violating the
First Amendment rights of protesting individuals.
Less than two weeks after the killing of Alton Sterling,
three BRPD officers were shot and killed by Gavin Eugene Long in a shootout.
Rank structure
The Chief of Police is appointed by, and reports to, the Mayor. The Chief is assisted by a Deputy Chief; who is a Colonel. This post has replaced Chief of Staff. All other police positions are promotional and based on seniority, as mandated by state civil service law.
[BRPD's website](_blank)
Baton Rouge Chiefs of Police
See also
*
List of law enforcement agencies in Louisiana
*
International Union of Police Associations
*
Officer Down Memorial Page
*
Shooting of Alton Sterling
*
2016 shooting of Baton Rouge police officers
On July 17, 2016, Gavin Eugene Long shot six police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in an ambush attack, in the wake of the shooting of Alton Sterling. Three died and three were hospitalized, one critically; of the officers who died, two were ...
References
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External links
Official website
Municipal police departments of Louisiana
Government of Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1865 establishments in Louisiana
Government agencies established in 1865