Residents pitch dozens of ideas for Baton Rouge Police reform

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Guaranteeing that Baton Rouge Police officers can speak about injustices without fear of retribution. Instituting mandatory bias testing before police officers hit the streets. Encouraging residents to show more respect toward police.

People of different races spoke throughout the two-hour meeting, sharing varying experiences with police officers and differing levels of trust. Regardless of their views of the police department, most of those in attendance agreed there is a need for change, ranging from small tweaks to broad reform.

"We never see any justice behind anything we complain about," said Burnell Williams, voicing a common theme among attendees.

Synthia Taylor, regional director for DOJ's community relations service southwestern office, facilitated the meeting. She asked speakers to form their thoughts into suggestions to create an action plan for better policing in Baton Rouge.

Some attendees said they see the same police officers at every community meeting, and that those officers are not the ones they have problems with. Others said the BRPD Union has too much control over the department, and that minority officers are discouraged from speaking out when they see injustices or biases against certain neighborhoods in Baton Rouge.

"If officers speak out and they're actually telling the truth of what's going on inside the department, is there a guarantee they will keep their jobs and not be retaliated against?" said Aaron Banks, who is Alton Sterling's cousin.

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