How do Louisiana State Police internal investigations compare to other southern troopers?
An audit has found that 67.5% of complaints of misconduct by Louisiana State Police troopers from 2019-2021 were valid and that the agency has the second-largest budget among departments in other southern states.
A Louisiana Legislative Auditor's report comparing Louisiana State Police to other law enforcement agencies inspected six areas of comparison to other departments.
The report, released Monday, compared Louisiana State Police to Alabama Highway Patrol, Arkansas State Police, Florida Highway Patrol, Georgia State Patrol, Kentucky State Police, Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, South Carolina State Highway Patrol, and Texas Highway Patrol.
In comparing how LSP handles its investigations to other agencies, the auditors found that all of the agencies had a dedicated unit to investigate complaints against officers.
Louisiana State Police doesn't have an external commission or board to conduct investigations into alleged misconduct. The State Police Commission instead serves as a review board that enacts and adjudicates rules to regulate personnel activities.
Misconduct complaints against State Police employees are conducted internally through internal affairs and disciplinary action against an employee can only be taken by the superintendent or his designee.
Four states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina - have external commissions that collect and report data or can investigate and sanction officers for misconduct. For example, the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission can revoke an officer's certification, enforce compliance through injunctive relief and civil fines and adopt rules for discipline.
From 2019 to 2021, Louisiana State Police investigated 167 complaints containing 366 potential policy violations, according to the audit. Of those, 94% were investigated internally and the other 6% were investigated by external law enforcement agencies, including local agencies, out-of-state agencies, and the Louisiana Attorney General's Office.
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The auditors categorized the complaints and found that about 16% alleged conduct unbecoming of an officer, 12% alleged use of force, and 9.3% alleged unsatisfactory performance.
Of the 366 allegations, 67.5% were sustained, 9.3% were not factual, 8.4% were lawful or proper, and 8.2% did not have enough evidence to prove or disprove the allegation. In some of the allegations, 6.6% of the investigations ended for other reasons including because the case was closed administratively, counseling was provided or an employee resigned or retired before the investigation was concluded.
Louisiana State Police has come under scrutiny after Ronald Greene died while in state police custody. Greene, who was Black, was brutally beaten and died during a State Police arrest in 2019 following a two-parish, high-speed chase that ended in a car crash in Union Parish near Monroe.
During a series of summer hearings conducted by a special Louisiana House committee formed to investigate Greene's death, a high-ranking State Police official testified that he was asked to conceal evidence in the case and the agency's use-of-force expert described the arrest as "torture and murder."
The audit also compared Louisiana State Police's budget, staffing, and functions to the other states' agencies. The audit found all of the agencies are different, but Louisiana had the second-largest budget of about $330.7 million. Texas Highway Patrol had the largest budget of about $409 million.
Louisiana State Police performs four functions: traffic enforcement, criminal investigation, operational support, and gaming enforcement in conjunction with the Gaming Control Board. LSP is the only agency reviewed whose function includes gaming enforcement.
Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Audit compares Louisiana State Police misconduct complaints to South
