Consolidating Law Enforcement in Metro Baton Rouge...any thoughts?

[oleheat]

This is going to be a much-talked about issue before it's over. What do you guys think of this? I understand this is a sensitive issue for some of you, obviously...But here's the article that's running in The Advocate.....


http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/Police-merger-considered.html

 

[dantheman]

A clash of two ego's . This too shall pass .

 

[Ranger57]

Can't see it happening.... The SO will never combine their revenue with the cities...

 

[sraacke]

Not to mention Union Vs Nonunion, Civil Service Vs nonCivil Service, pay and retirement plans to merge. It's all BS. Kip is getting bad advice from somewhere or he's suffered some sort of stroke and is going batcrap crazy.

 

[dantheman]

Kip IS batcrap crazy .

 

[Ranger57]

Amen...

 

[oleheat]

....AND Amen.

 

[beauxdog]

I for one think it's about time. All the problems can be worked out. Other cities have done this why not Baton Rouge. One group in charge and only one admin. team. There are many other benefits of this system and I would like to see it work.

Beauxdog

 

[JBP55]

It will probably happen about the same time Baton Rouge gets a Loop or by pass which should have been 30 years ago.

 

[TomTerrific]

What have cities like Charlotte, Richmond, Nashville done?

 

[.45-70]

“It seems that combining them would save money and possibly provide better police protection for Baton Rouge.”

Sounds just ambiguous to convince a lot of people to change things with absolutely no facts what so ever. I'm not convinced. Save what money and for who?

I'm not sure if I am comfortable with my parish "saving money" on law enforcement as the crime rates are sky rocketing.

 

[firecapt186]

This idea was brought up about 27-28 yrs ago, same things gonna happen this time that happened back then too........... I know other cities in other states have them, but how many La. cities have done this?? You would think that if it were feasable, the N.O. area would be combined before EBR.

 

[hdfinder47]

New Iberia "consolidated" law enforcement several years ago by basically firing the PD and letting the SO take over LE duties in the city as well as in the parish. Crime is now rampant, SO morale is in the pits (not so bad as when it first happened) and hundreds of years of LE experience were lost - most PD officers would not work for the sheriff.
In our case it was due to a vindictive mayor and several city council "elite" who thought that they should be immune to LE in "their" city. We voted most of them out the next election but it was too late to put the PD back together.

 

[Kraut]

New Iberia "consolidated" law enforcement several years ago by basically firing the PD and letting the SO take over LE duties in the city as well as in the parish. Crime is now rampant, SO morale is in the pits (not so bad as when it first happened) and hundreds of years of LE were lost - most PD officers would not work for the sheriff.
In our case it was due to a vindictive mayor and several city council "elite" who thought that they should be immune to LE in "their" city. We voted most of them out the next election but it was too late to put the PD back together.

I considered putting an application in with them when I was living/working in New Iberia, and was glad when that happened that I had not wasted several years only to be canned over a political p!ssing contest. Just last cycle one of the mayoral candidates (thankfully the loser) here in Slidell was touting the idea of eliminating the city PD and paying the SO for services.

I think I read about two years ago that Indianapolis consolidated into a metropolitan force, and it was supposedly going well, but I don't think the idea translates well to a collection of smaller, spread-out municipalities like we have in St. Tammany. Maybe in places where the individual communities are stacked right against one another, but I feel that most of our communities in LA are too separate and distinct.

 

[hdfinder47]

I considered putting an application in with them when I was living/working in New Iberia, and was glad when that happened that I had not wasted several years only to be canned over a political p!ssing contest. Just last cycle one of the mayoral candidates (thankfully the loser) here in Slidell was touting the idea of eliminating the city PD and paying the SO for services.

I think I read about two years ago that Indianapolis consolidated into a metropolitan force, and it was supposedly going well, but I don't think the idea translates well to a collection of smaller, spread-out municipalities like we have in St. Tammany. Maybe in places where the individual communities are stacked right against one another, but I feel that most of our communities in LA are too separate and distinct.

True.

 

[TomTerrific]

This idea was brought up about 27-28 yrs ago, same things gonna happen this time that happened back then too........... I know other cities in other states have them, but how many La. cities have done this?? You would think that if it were feasable, the N.O. area would be combined before EBR.

NO is combined and has been. NOParish and the City of NO are one and the same. They have a Civil Sheriff who runs the jail, I think, but the LEO on the street is NOPD. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[GClifton]

BRPD & EBRSO ----------what's Chris Rocks big saying "ni--er please"

 

[DuckYou]

I have seen this work well in other areas. Sheriff enforces laws, cities pay a fee for services that is much less than the cost of maintaining their own PD. I am for it as long as the SO remains independent and my taxes go down.

 

[dantheman]

Well , since Kip is doing such a great job with the crime problem in B.R. , why not ?

 

[TomTerrific]

You're not wrong, but its a different situation. What Melon Head wants to do is basically combine BRPD and EBRSO, each which has its own, separate jurisdiction, into a "parish police"; that the mayor/president "presides over".

Some large urban areas in the northeast have this set-up, as do a few out west. But remember that Louisiana is the ONLY state which uses the Napoleonic Code for the basis of its laws, whereas everybody else uses English Common Law.

Think spaghetti vs meat loaf...

.

Apples and oranges. Thanks.