Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks-Daniel has placed a revised version of her proposed residency requirement for Baton Rouge police officers back on the council’s agenda for a public hearing and vote—this time at the council’s Aug. 10 meeting.
Banks-Daniel submitted her amended proposal this morning—just two days after some of her fellow council members blocked her original draft from being introduced for debate.
She also says the modified proposal addresses concerns some of her fellow council members raised about the boundaries and timing of the original measure.
The residency requirement, which would take effect Jan. 1, would not apply to any officer employed on or before Dec. 31. The original proposal required new BRPD hires to live in the city limits, but her revision expands their permitted residency into the parish.
“I’ve eliminated the timing issue that everyone has mentioned and the boundaries issue. Those are the only two issues that need to be addressed, and if there’s any other issues I think it would show that there’s hypocrisy among my fellow council members,” Banks-Daniel says.
The councilwoman says she was inspired to submit the proposal again after she learned that two police officers had been shot in San Diego. One of the officers died.
“It confirmed to me that I’m on the right track in trying to do all that I can to ensure that these senseless killings are eliminated as much as possible,” she says, adding that a lot of deaths are based on cultural differences.
A residency requirement, Banks-Daniel says, would help build relationships, foster community togetherness and save lives.
She equates the requirement to council members being required to live in the districts they serve and the residency requirement for the U.S. president. She adds that “people are less likely to kill their neighbors.”
She believes community policing is more effective when officers police the areas in which they reside.
“Each parish brings along a certain culture, a certain way of doing things,” she says. “If you don’t live in that area, it’s hard for you to even begin to have that understanding.”
—Alexandria Burris
