Police union’s ill-placed priorities

Police Chief Dewayne White has committed to improving crime fighting in Baton Rouge, and part of his plan is to reorganize the top of the Baton Rouge Police Department.

He wants to create three senior-level deputy chief positions to hold the three primary divisions accountable to him for their performance. To fund those positions, he planned to eliminate seven captain’s positions. The chief said there are simply too many captains in the department.

But before he could even get that part of his plan off the ground, the Baton Rouge Union of Police Local 237 pushed back and prompted the chief to back down. The union argued that cutting those seven captain’s positions would make it more difficult for officers lower down the chain of command to earn promotions.

Are you kidding?

People are dying in the streets of Baton Rouge every day in part because our police department has been unable to stop or deter violent crime. Too many cops have cushy jobs, too few cops are pounding the pavement in high-crime areas, and too few cops are getting out of their squad cars to find out what’s really going on on the streets.

The union’s top priority seems to be protecting the status quo so that its members have an easier time getting promoted. It’s no wonder unions only enjoy marginal support anymore.

Everyone in this community, from the police chief, to beat cops, to community leaders, to residents should be screaming for change and improvement in how we fight violent crime.

The union should reconsider its position and acknowledge that the current structure is not working. It’s not too late for its leaders to wise up and become part of the solution, which they should do quickly, or they’ll risk the Baton Rouge public starting to view them not as a potential source for solutions, but as part of the problem.