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Central committee weighs keeping city police, contracting with sheriff or hybrid model
Summary
Members of the Central Public Safety Committee discussed three policing options—maintain the current Central Police Department (CPD), contract fully with the East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's office, or adopt a hybrid model—and asked staff for crash and activity statistics before recommending a path to the City Council.
The Central Public Safety Committee debated three paths for policing in Central during a regularly scheduled committee meeting: maintain the city's current police force, shift all patrol and crash response to the East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's office under contract, or adopt a hybrid mix of sheriff and CPD services.
Committee members said finances, staffing and service continuity are central to the decision. "I expressed to him that my concern with the either-or proposition ... we just don't have the financial resources to do that this time," Mayor Wiggins said, describing a recent meeting with the sheriff and his staff. The mayor said he wants a collaborative approach and suggested a public workshop where the options can be presented to residents.
Members and staff discussed cost estimates and previous figures that have circulated during negotiations. Committee members referenced a full CPD startup estimate in the multi-million-dollar range (two figures were cited in the meeting: about $8 million and about $4'plus million), and a prior all-sheriff contract figure of roughly $2.5 million. Several speakers said the $8 million figure would be difficult to fund without a new dedicated revenue source. "I can't account for the increased workload for traffic because I don't know what the numbers are," a sheriff's office representative said, urging the committee to review concrete crash and activity data before finalizing any recommendation.
A recurring operational concern was the potential loss of part-time or reserve officers currently working with Central PD if the city moves to a contract-only model. Mayor Wiggins warned that the sheriff's office "does not pay reserves," and council members said losing those officers would reduce patrol coverage.
Committee members agreed on next steps: Captain Dimlin (East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office) and Central PD staff will assemble a six-month average of monthly activity and crash statistics and provide those figures to the committee before the next meeting. The committee asked that statistics include total CAD incidents handled within Central city limits and clarify duplications that can appear in the CAD/GIS data.
Several members also said they want hybrid-model options laid out in writing so the City Council can compare staffing, hours and costs side by side. No formal decision was taken at the meeting.
Ending: The committee scheduled follow-up work: staff will provide six months of comparably formatted activity and crash data for Central and for sheriff response in the city so the committee can present concrete options to the City Council.
