Latest Weather Blog
WBRZ News
BATON ROUGE - It's been a busy first few months for newly-appointed Chief of the Baton Rouge Police Department, Thomas "T.J." Morse.
As part of his 100 day plan, he has followed the three steps he outlined earlier this year: gather, gain and give. At a Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday afternoon, he provided an update on his progress so far.
Chief Morse said he has gathered with more than 100 organizations and groups in Baton Rouge, met with every uniformed BRPD officer and held meetings with law enforcement agencies on every level. All of these conversations were for the new chief to listen and collect information about what the community needs to thrive.
In addition to meetings with public officials, Chief Morse also aims to meet more with everyday citizens. He launched a "chat with the chief" program where anyone can make an appointment to sit down and be heard. Additionally, the Baton Rouge Police Department has reactivated their comment section on Facebook so they can hear support and criticisms from the public.
As for the "gain" aspect of Morse's 100 day plan, he says the department has focused on learning about the needs of the police department in order to increase efficiency. The chief began a top-down review of all policies and procedures at BRPD and announced there will be several changes in the future.
One of those changes has already been implemented. Officers now have to fill out a form anytime a strip search is conducted. Chief Morse says the manner in which a strip search can be conducted is likely to change soon as well.
"[It] gives us a little bit more oversight, a little bit more review of when an officer conducts [a strip search]. Very similar to our use of force forms or our vehicle pursuit forms that our officers already have to fill out," Chief Morse said.
The chief said the formation of BRPD's special investigations unit, which launched in March, brings a positive change to the department.
"It was because of that, that we're able to get some indictments last week or two weeks ago with the district attorney's office against this one group in the city," Chief Morse said.
Through a new 'Proactive Policing' measure funded by the City-Parish, the chief is sending officers to patrol high-crime areas where data shows violence is likely to occur.
"We're going to do our best on the police side as well with special patrols targeting certain areas. Proactive patrols and kind of keeping our foot on the pedal," Chief Morse said.
He also believes intervention with the city's youth is the key to preventing criminal activity. In the coming months, he plans to unveil a youth advisory council.
"I'm looking at high school, college-aged kids who want to be involved who maybe feel like they don't have a seat at the table where the adults are. That they can come and talk about things that are specific to them."
That point brought him to the "give" portion of his plan, which entails connecting more with the community through neighborhood walks every Thursday and social media posts to show what officers experience at work every day.
If residents wish to aid the effort in fighting crime, they can sign up for the Page-Rice camera initiative, or ConnectBlue Program, which installs and grants BRPD access to public-facing cameras at homes and businesses free of cost.
So far this year, BRPD officers have seized 480 firearms, arrested 1,116 people on felony charges and taken 261 juveniles into custody on felony charges. As of the beginning of May, nine juveniles were arrested by BRPD for homicide. During the entirety of 2023, the same number of juvenile homicide arrests were made.
BATON ROUGE - On Tuesday, federal judges rejected the newly drawn congressional district map, saying Louisiana lawmakers relied too heavily on race when drawing up new boundaries. A bit of a 'Catch 22' considering race was the reason the original map was ordered to be redrawn in the first place.
"Our case is a really good example of a situation where you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't," said Attorney General Liz Murrill.
The boundaries of the 6th District are important when it comes to determining who will be on the ballot this upcoming election cycle.
While the map being disputed right now paves the way for Black Democrat Senator Cleo Fields to win, the old map would likely keep current Republican Congressman Garret Graves.
Murrill says she and Governor Landry will fight for the new map.
"SB8 is the current law and that is the case we are defending right now and we will continue to defend that map and that law. That's my job."
To properly prepare for the November election, the Secretary of State's office has had a hard deadline of May 15 since this all began.
Murill says things will be clear soon.
"We will know that very shortly. Because of this May 15 deadline we're going to know in about two weeks"
Senator Fields, who navigated through a nearly identical ordeal in the '90s, is also positive the Supreme Court will have a decision by that deadline.
"The Supreme Court should take the matter up right away because Louisiana is out there with no plans whatsoever," he said.
Both say there will either be a stay issued by the Supreme Court—which means the current map will be in effect for this election, or not.
UPDATE - 10 p.m. Wednesday: A narrow cluster of storms has developed this evening to the southwest of Baton Rouge. These storms are not moving very quickly, and appear to be hugging a boundary - likely a remnant lake breeze boundary emanating from Lake Pontchartrain and Maurepas. These storms will likely diminish as we continue to lose daytime heating effects into the night.
945p Wednesday:
— Malcolm Byron (@mbyronwx) May 2, 2024
Well hello there, storms! Most of the green is ground clutter, but the deep shades of red indicate heavy rain in a narrow region extending from Addis to Geismar.
Evidently, there's enough convergence along a remnant lake breeze boundary to pop a storm! #LAwx pic.twitter.com/fzxNb9rF44
ORIGINAL STORY: After reaching 90° for the first time this year, temperatures will scale back as a few disturbances swing through. This will only be temporary - the warmth surges back into the area over the weekend.
Tonight & Tomorrow: Although we keep mostly clear skies for the first few hours of the evening, clouds will be on the increase into Thursday morning. We’ll wake up to cloudy skies early Thursday, with warmer overnight lows. Temperatures will bottom out near 70° in the capital city. A few patches of fog are possible, although a slight southeasterly breeze appears just strong enough to alleviate fog concerns.
More clouds will be with us on Thursday. That will help bring highs back into the middle-80s. A weak disturbance will bring isolated to widely scattered showers and storms to the region. Rain chances increase closer to lunchtime, lasting into the afternoon. It will be a good idea to have the rain gear on hand. Even so, know that it will not be raining at every point. Some spots might even dodge rain entirely.
Up Next: An additional disturbance arrives on Friday, bringing another shot at showers and storms. Rain chances peak during the morning this time. Lingering storms are possible during the afternoon, but this activity will be closely tied to how the morning unfolds. For instance, a stormier morning would stabilize our atmosphere and prevent the afternoon round.
Cloud cover and rain will hold temperatures back for yet another day on Friday. However, all bets are off thereafter. Highs return to the upper-80s over the weekend and nudge upward into the low-90s next week. There will be plenty of humidity to go around, with limited rain chances also.
Get the latest 7-day forecast and real time weather updates HERE.
Watch live news HERE.
-- Meteorologist Malcolm Byron
The Storm Station is here for you, on every platform. Your weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on your Apple or Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook and Twitter for even more weather updates while you are on the go.
Desktop News
Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.Want to be a guest on the Noon News?
Want someone from your event or organization to be a guest on the Noon News? Click here to fill out our Noon News Guest Request form!
News Video
-
Victim in Central crash thanks first responders who saved him
-
Denham Springs man arrested for allegedly soliciting child porn in multiple states
-
Two 16-year-olds arrested after shooting death on Longfellow Drive Saturday
-
After a busy first 100 days, BRPD Chief Morse reflects on progress...
-
LSU great Haleigh Bryant opts for return to LSU
Sports Video
-
LSU great Haleigh Bryant opts for return to LSU
-
Syndey Berzon tosses gem, LSU softball beats Arkansas 1-0
-
LSU Baseball falls 7-5 in game three against Auburn, but clinches series
-
Jay Clark joins Michael Cauble to talk about LSU Gym's historic season
-
Fans welcome LSU Gymnastics team back to Baton Rouge after first NCAA...