Central committee pauses recommendation on future policing, awaits AG opinion

The City of Central Law Enforcement Committee debated whether to recommend keeping the city’s police department, contracting for East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff coverage, or adopting a hybrid policing model. Committee leaders said a pending Attorney General opinion and additional work on contract details mean no single path should be recommended without more legal and financial analysis.

Committee chair and members emphasized fact-gathering and legal certainty before making a recommendation to the full City Council. "It's my belief, singularly, that until we know what the answer to that question is, then we don't know what we can recommend," a committee member said, describing the request for an AG opinion filed by the mayor’s office.

Why it matters: The choice affects public safety coverage, municipal budgets and the city's relationship with the parish sheriff. A range of options discussed included retaining a fully staffed Central Police Department (CPD), contracting entirely with the sheriff's office, a hybrid model that combines a municipal PD for traffic and local patrol with parish investigative support, or other alternative models.

Key discussion points

- Legal guidance sought: Committee members said the mayor’s office submitted five or six questions to the Louisiana Attorney General’s office to clarify which options are legally available; the AG’s office told the city the request is in research and review and an opinion remains pending.

- Lessons from other cities: Mayor and others cited New Iberia’s experience — the city tried abolishing its police department and later restored local policing — and members asked for detailed documentation from New Iberia about what happened and why they reversed course.

- Budget and staffing: Committee members discussed several cost estimates mentioned in the meeting record: a previously presented hybrid model costing roughly $4.2–4.6 million per year and an alternative target figure cited by the mayor of about $2 million annually. Speakers warned budget estimates are subject to negotiation and contingent on what services are contracted or retained.

- Contract risk: Members cautioned that any contract with the sheriff should be written with specific service-level details, performance timelines and exit clauses; one member said a poorly written contract contributed to problems in other jurisdictions.

What the committee decided

- No final recommendation: Members agreed they were not ready to make a formal recommendation to the City Council until the AG opinion and additional research are available.

- Meeting schedule and next steps: Committee members discussed pausing active recommendation work until the AG opinion but also agreed to reconvene on the committee’s regular schedule (the first meeting in June was proposed) and to bring specific hybrid-model proposals and contract details for further discussion.

Quotes from the meeting

- "We don't have to go through it again. And it did prompt a request for an attorney general's opinion, which is still pending," a committee member said on why the committee should wait for legal guidance.

- Mayor said, "I believe we have an opportunity here to do policing like nobody's ever done," urging the committee to consider alternatives rather than automatically adopting a standard model.

Ending: The committee left its options open, directed staff to collect legal and contract information, and set the next committee meeting for the council’s first monthly meeting in June; no vote to adopt any of the policing options was taken.