Baton Rouge police announce that Blane Salamoni, the officer who fired six shots into the body of Alton Sterling, will never work as a B-R-P-D officer as part of a settlement reached. Salamoni will be allowed to voluntarily resign retroactive to March 2018, instead of being fired. Police Chief Murphy Paul says Salamoni should have never been hired.
“Baton Rouge, we are sorry. We are sorry for hiring a person who was intentionally untruthful, misleading, and failed to report information requested during a hiring process. We’re sorry,” said Paul.
The department has learned that Salamoni had an arrest record that he did not disclose to police when he applied to be an officer. That should have prevented him from being hired. The shooting of Sterling led to days of protest and civil unrest. Paul says the healing process continues.
“Our department is participating in a federal project called The Collective Healing in the Wake of Harm to address the many traumas our Baton Rouge community has faced, trauma our officers experienced,” said Paul.
Paul says the Sterling shooting followed a pattern of unprofessional behavior shown by Salamoni.
“To the family of Alton Sterling and to his kids, we’re sorry because he should have never been hired. While we obviously cannot change the past, it is clear we must change the future,” said Paul.
