Promise of Justice Initiative Requests Federal DOJ Launch Civil Rights Investigation Into Law Enforcement Agencies in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
Photo of a Baton Rouge police car courtesy of The Advocate
Baton Rouge—At the urgent request of community members in East Baton Rouge Parish, the Promise of Justice Initiative (PJI), the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition (EBRPPRC), and Decarcerate Louisiana have asked the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately launch an investigation into the illegal practices of the law enforcement agencies policing the parish, including the Baton Rouge Police Department, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, and the Louisiana State Police. Despite urgent calls for reform after the Baton Rouge Police Department killed Alton Sterling in 2016, law enforcement agencies continue to use excessive force on civilians, particularly on Black and Brown people in East Baton Rouge. The request to DOJ comes on the heels of three extensive reports, authored by PJI, on the alarming number of deaths in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and law enforcement agency’s use of racist and violent policing tactics in the parish.
PJI’s Executive Director, Mercedes Montagnes commented “It is time for the decades-long police violence against Baton Rouge’s civilians to end. Recent police shootings and incidents of excessive force reveal that Baton Rouge law enforcement agencies will not hold their own officers accountable or institute much-needed reform.”
Reverend Alexis Anderson, founder and Executive Director of PREACH and a member of the EBRPPRC Steering Committee said “We see officers returning to work shortly after killing or harming a civilian. The officer who killed Alton Sterling was also responsible for the assault of a 16 year old boy just months before Mr. Sterling’s murder. One year after an officer killed Jordan Frazier, he shot Raheem Howard, claiming falsely that Mr. Howard had shot at him first. Where is the accountability?”
The discriminatory policing tactics and excessive violence have traumatized a generation of Black youth in Baton Rouge. “Earlier this year, a BRPD officer strip-searched a minor on a public street and then proceeded to search his house without a warrant,” shared Curtis Davis, Executive Director of Decarcerate Louisiana. “This brazen violation of the boy’s rights is illustrative of BRPD’s general disregard for civilians’ safety and civil protections. Of the almost 150 people bit by BRPD police dogs between 2017 and 2019, more than 90% were Black and more than a third were minors.”
PJI, EBRPPRC and Decarcerate Louisiana are calling for a long overdue federal investigation, after a series of local and state investigations, public outrage, and a litany of lawsuits have failed to address the long history of violent and discriminatory police practices in East Baton Rouge. The letter submitted to DOJ details many of the specific incidents that have been documented by the press and in formal complaints over the years. “Federal investigation and intervention is essential to address this problem. Given the ongoing dangers to community members and the resistance of law enforcement leadership and city officials, it is urgent that the DOJ immediately launch an investigation before more community members are injured and killed at the hands of law enforcement,” said Miriam Thorne, a law student at New York University School of Law and law clerk at PJI who spent the summer compiling the violent history of policing in Baton Rouge.
Read the full complaint and exhibits sent to DOJ. Warning: The exhibits contain disturbing content.
Media Contact:
Nishi Kumar
Promise of Justice Initiative
504-529-5955
About the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition
The East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition (EBRPPRC) advances solutions and works collaboratively with criminal justice coalitions to reduce mass incarceration and to uphold the basic human rights of those incarcerated at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and their families through education, advocacy, transparency and accountability. Learn more at https://ebrpprc.com/
About Decarcerate Louisiana
There is a long legacy of oppression in Louisiana leading to the targeting, criminalizing and imprisoning of racial minorities and poor people. Decarcerate Louisiana started in 2014 when people inside and outside the prison system began supporting one another, organizing, and working for change. Decarcerate Louisiana brings together inside and outside organizers to advocate for abolition and social change. Join the movement at https://decarceratelouisiana.org/