Arrests Black Eye for State Police

Louisiana's State Police Force, specifically Troop "F" which patrols the northeastern section of the state, had four of its officers charged for using excessive force during two news making arrests. The four Troopers have been identified as Jacob Brown, 30, Dakota Moss, 28, Randall Dickerson,34, and 26-year-old George Harper. They are charged with "simple battery and malfeasance in office". Brown faces another charge of obstruction of justice for his alleged role in one of the incidents. The announcing of the charges by LSP Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis on the four Troopers stems from two incidents in Ouachita and Franklin Parishes in July 2019 and May 2020 respectively. The Ouachita Parish incident alleges that an individual who was handcuffed after being detained by officers Brown and Dickerson used excessive force in the arrest. In the Franklin Parish incident, another motorist was apprehended following a pursuit and according to LSP's investigation, the motorist had surrendered to officers. After handcuffing the driver, officers allegedly used "excessive force", more than what was necessary to carry out a proper arrest. Davis has been in the position of superintendent for only a few months, but he has a Herculean task before him if he can hold all officers accountable for their conduct and uphold the public trust.

The exposure of the Troopers' conduct as they apprehend individuals shows the public that despite what the community is told, bad policing continues to occur. Even when officers are charged as these four individuals would indicate, there is a reluctance by those at the top of the agencies to label one of their own as a "bad apple" or simply as a bad cop. They will say that conduct such as that of the four arrested officers "does not reflect who the men and women of the force are", but in truth it does. It is the force or entire department that is being looked at because as we have seen over at least the last decade, instances of police misconduct have been reported in stark reality because of the presence of cell phones. However, we are sometimes not to take into full context of what someone may record on their personal cell phone. Full context is important to gather all the facts necessary to charge someone. What if the audio/video is from an officer's body cam; that piece of technology that is supposed to help officers/police department do their jobs better and hold officers not only accountable for their actions, but also show transparency to the public. In the two cases in which the officers are charged, none of body cams were activated. Davis said that the use of force by the officers "was unjustifiable and inexcusable", not "excessive" which to some may make the infraction by officers less serious. Somehow there seems to be a problem telling the public that one of their own "was wrong".

The very essence of police reform many of us would like to believe is to "right the wrong" that is done by some, not all police officers. Reform is perhaps something like repenting, meaning before an individual can become a better person, he/she must admit that they WANT to do/be better. In a related article, a police reform task force will be handling over recommendations for members of the Louisiana legislature to consider. they believe that their proposals can make a meaningful impact in communities across the state. Col. Davis has taken over an agency that has still not resolved the Ronald Greene incident where one of their Troopers was implicated in Greene's death and was about to be fired for his actions. He died in a one car accident before he could be fired. Also, there are reported racial incidents among officers where racist texts surfaced from a white officer addressing a Black officer. Then there was the incident of where Trooper Kaleb Reeves, son of recently retired LSP Superintendent Kevin Reeves, was involved in an accident where he hit the back of a vehicle, killing two females who were in the back seat. And now, four more officers arrested.