BATON ROUGE - Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome spent hours on the streets of Baton Rouge, learning from law enforcement as they responded to crime scenes across the parish.
The mayor was invited by an officer to get a real-life view of what the city's cops deal with on a daily basis."I've been talking a lot about closing the gap between law enforcement and the citizens in our community," Mayor Broome said. "So I thought it would be good for me to go out first hand and see what goes on in their world."
The mayor spent two 10 hour shifts with BRPD's Street Crimes Unit."They didn't hide anything," Mayor Broome told News 2's Brett Buffington. "They wanted to make sure that I got an up close and personal look at things that were taking place, so very rarely did I stay in the car when they were on the scene."
Mayor Broome was elected with a promise of overhauling the police department. She said there are still changes to be made, but believes her new perspective will help make Baton Rouge safer.
The mayor says she will talk with her advisory council about the concerns expressed by the officers.