As protestors nationwide demand changes in policing policy Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome says the city police unions have been an obstruction to reform within the department.
Broome told Talk Louisiana that the city police union’s problem is that it protects bad apples.
“As you try to remove those people in law enforcement who should not be there many times the union is an obstruction to weeding out the bad cops,” said Broome.
The Baton Rouge Police Union defended Officer Blane Salamoni in the wake of the Alton Sterling shooting, and Broome has previously expressed frustration with their resistance to post-Sterling police reforms.
Broome says they need greater flexibility to identify and remove bad cops from the department, and the union makes that difficult to do.
“When you look at some individuals and you look at the list of complaints that have been brought up by challenges, we have got to get a balance here,” says Broome.
Broome says cops with traceable records of alarming behavior are often the ones victimizing their communities.
“We cannot have a dual institution where some are protected and served and some are not, are treated unequal,” says Broome.
The Minneapolis City Council announced veto-proof support for moving ahead with dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Broome says they, as of now, have no plans of pursuing similar policy in Baton Rouge.
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