La. state trooper apparent 'favorite' for BPRD chief job

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BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
A veteran Louisiana State Police trooper is the current heavy favorite for the job of Baton Rouge chief of police, multiple sources close to the process say.

However, the process is still in its early stages with each of the nine candidates still facing a formal interview and a public input session.

Lt. Col. Murphy Paul, who appears to the early favorite, currently serves as deputy superintendent of the Bureau of Investigation for LSP.

Paul was one of 12 people to apply for the job and among 11 who successfully passed a required civil service exam tied to the position.

The other applications who passed include Sharon Douglas, Shawn Caldwell, Richard Harrell, Myron Daniels, Darryl Honore, Jeremy Kent, Robert McGarner, Ronald Stevens, Mark Kraus, and Samuel Wyatt. However, Caldwell and Harrell later declined to go through the interview process for the job.

The mayor’s office confirmed Monday that an announcement on the new chief hire will happen by the end of the year and added that the job has not been offered to anyone.

A committee has been formed to interview the nine candidates; five on November 16 and four on November 30. There will be a public comment session on December 7. After that, the committee will submit five finalists to the Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, Janene Tate, the mayor's communications director, said.

BRPD Police Chief Carl Dabadie, Jr. retired last July. Broome campaigned on a promise to hire a new chief.

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