While state lawmakers cut a last-minute deal on a $24 billion budget for the coming fiscal year as the 2015 session drew to close Thursday, the Metro Council a day earlier kicked around the issue of police body cameras once again and ultimately voted against them.
On the morning after the council rejected the cameras by a 4-5 vote, Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle—who has led an effort to equip officers with the technology since last fall—vowed to continue her fight.
“I’m a fighter, so I’m going to keep fighting,” Marcelle told Daily Report. “Last night wasn’t a total loss for me, but I do think it was a loss for Baton Rouge overall.”
Marcelle noted her own district is still in line to see 100 body cameras implemented by the police force within the next month or so as part of a previously approved pilot program. She now intends to establish a committee to oversee the pilot program and further evaluate the associated costs.
Ultimately, the council rejected the ordinance Wednesday due to expense concerns. The police department has previously said it could cost anywhere from $1 million to $3 million to outfit its roughly 660 officers with the cameras. Marcelle says she believes the department can afford to the technology.
Also Wednesday, the council approved placing on the Oct. 24 ballot a proposed property tax increase for the East Baton Rouge Parish Library System. If approved by voters, the millage rate dedicated for the library system would increase from 10.78 to 11.1 mills.
East Baton Rouge Parish also has a new registrar of voters after the council voted Wednesday to appoint Stephen Raborn to the position. A 13-year veteran of the registrar of voters office here, Raborn also previously served as the registrar in Fort Worth, Texas. Raborn was among 24 applicants to replace outgoing registrar Elaine Lamb, who is retiring at the end of the month.
Also this week, Baton Rouge Community College Chancellor Andrea Lewis Miller was elected the 12th president of LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis. Miller will be the college’s first female president, the school says in a news release issued Thursday. Her start date is uncertain.
Read the complete Daily Report Week in Review for rundown of some of the other top local stories making headlines this week.
