On a Tuesday, officials from East Baton Rouge Parish, led by Edwards, announced new efforts to enhance public safety.

        The first move involves reactivating retired police officers for part-time work with their benefits

        This is the middle of a project the police have been doing for a while. The retired employees, working up to 29 hours a week, can help with secondary duties. They won't be taking on active calls.

        Nobody has said where the $3 million for this and what it includes.

        The second initiative looks to double the rewards for quick Crime Stoppers tips.

        Currently, rewards are $2, 500 for homicide tips and $5, 000 for multiple homicides.

        With new rules, tipsters would get twice as much if they submit information within the first 48 hours.

        In the last year, Crime Stoppers paid out to nine tipsters for their help in homicides.

       "This program is tried and true, " Dunnam said. With the higher payouts, officials hope to speed up homicide arrests.

       Edwards and his team want these new initiatives to build on past efforts, but specifics were not given.

        Edwards noted that social services and community outreach are also key to this idea.

        Edwards also made recent remarks about diverting money from property taxes originally meant for the library system. This controversial move could then be used for the police department.

        Some think it's just to help police pay, but Edwards said it's not a black and white issue.

        And as the police department's budget is still lower than last year,  there are still a lot of questions for the elected officials, many concerned with the future of police funding.

        This comes after a series of cuts and changes within the East Baton Rouge Parish's Police Department.

        While there is a lot of hope from citizens, officials must work to address the problems in the area. .

        What's really going on is that the police have invested into hundreds of officers in the past year. But there are fewer people on the force today than last year.

         With the new initiatives, some are skeptical. The new efforts have attracted attention, but the public will need to see results.

Baton Rouge's Crime fighting Rise in 2024

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