The Senate Select Committee on State Police Oversight will hold their first meeting today and hear from LSP Superintendent Colonel Lamar Davis. The committee was formed after several reports of excessive force. Baton Rouge Senator Franklin Foil is chairman of the seven-member committee.
“We believe Colonel Davis has come in and made some changes to their policy and so we want to review that with him and see if there are things that we can do to help make their policy better to prevent these types of situations,” said Foil.
Foil said their primary goal determine if legislation needs to be enacted to reduce excessive force among police officers and as a legislative branch, they have oversight authority for the executive branch.
“We want to review their policies both the training and then the remedies that are available if someone accuses the police of excessive force and see if there are things, we can do to improve their policies,” said Foil.
While the first meeting will give committee members the opportunity to question Colonel Davis about practices and training of State Police, Foil anticipates a second meeting to allow for public input. As for possible legislation that could be created…
“There might be policies as far as how the state police do their training for the excessive force issues. We can also look on the backend what are the remedies available if someone makes allegations of excessive force,” said Foil.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors are reviewing a series of beatings by troopers and if top police leaders obstructed justice to protect troopers involved in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene