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Ruston police honor officers for lifesaving actions; chief outlines automated traffic camera rollout
Summary
Police Chief Bautista presented lifesaving and merit awards to three officers for responses to a choking infant and a 2023 shooting, and said the city's automated traffic camera project will be implemented in four phases with equipment installation targeted for mid‑summer.
Police Chief Bautista presented departmental awards Dec. 16 recognizing officers whose actions saved lives and outlined the next steps for Ruston's automated traffic camera (ATC) project.
Bautista presented a Departmental Life Saving Award to Officer Cory Hansen for performing a mouth sweep that restored breathing to a choking one‑year‑old on May 22, 2024. He also presented Departmental Merit Awards to Officers Ram Sovann and Rachel Barlow for emergency care following a Sept. 17, 2023 gang shooting; Bautista said the officers’ rapid response and hemorrhage control saved the victim’s life. He recognized Sergeant Wayne Lake for investigative work that linked a woman to a series of arsons, saying the suspect had set 33 fires in Ruston and Tacoma and is now serving a lengthy prison sentence.
"The Ruston Police Department present[s] the Departmental Life Saving Award to the Police Officer Corey Hansen for his actions on May 22nd, 2024," Bautista said while calling the officers forward. He added that work on the ATC project will proceed in four phases: ordinance and legal review, contract finalization with the vendor, a roughly 3–4 week field installation and testing period, and then a live roll‑out with ticketing process improvements. "He estimated that the City could see the cameras up by midsummer," Bautista said.
The chief said the council will need to identify a hearing examiner and court clerk for related enforcement hearings, and that staff will arrange testing and final contract preparation before equipment goes into the field. The presentation emphasized both the department’s recent emergency responses and the city’s plan to use automated enforcement tools as part of broader safety and revenue planning.
