Marcelle formally asks feds to investigate BRPD

Metro Councilwoman Denise Marcelle is sending a formal request today to the U.S. Department of Justice to find out whether the department will investigate allegations made by fired Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White. Marcelle previously told Daily Report she wanted the feds to look into White’s allegations and firing. Since then, she and council members Tara Wicker, Donna Collins-Lewis and Ronnie Edwards met with the parish attorney’s office to discuss the situation. At that meeting, they asked to be included in a regularly scheduled meeting between the parish attorney’s office and officials from the Department of Justice, who periodically come to town for updates on the police department’s compliance with a 1980 consent decree. That regularly scheduled meeting was canceled, however, as a result of the federal budget cuts known as sequestration. “Since that meeting was canceled I don’t know when they’ll be back or when I’ll get to meet with them, which is why I am sending this letter,” says Marcelle. “I want to know who is handling this matter, what their intentions are, and what I need to do to follow up with them because we want this to move forward.” —Stephanie Riegel