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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter invited Mona Hardin, the mother of Ronald Greene, to be his special guest at the State of the Union Tuesday, according to Hardin and her lawyer.
The invitation was extended this week, as President Biden is expected to address police reform in his speech to the American people.
Hardin's son was killed on the side of a rural north Louisiana road almost four years ago. Greene was alive and apologizing when he exited his vehicle, but State Police told the family he died in a crash. A coverup began tied to his death, and evidence was hidden and destroyed. A number of top Louisiana State Police officials were forced out of their top positions amid the outrage, and just before Christmas, five law enforcement officers were formally charged in Greene's death.
"Given what's happened in Tennessee, this is on the forefront," said Ronald Haley, Hardin's lawyer. "There's unfinished business with Ronald Greene from the criminal proceedings, civil rights suit, to the department of justice investigation. It was only appropriate to have Ms. Mona as a guest of honor."
Hardin said she was pleased to attend, and shared her son's favorite words, "I refuse to lose, and with that we remain focused."
Haley said Hardin will also participate in discussions with other families who lost loved ones to police brutality.
The State of the Union will air on WBRZ-TV Tuesday evening at 8 p.m.
BATON ROUGE - Baton Rouge police recently launched a crime trend dashboard where the public can go look at real-time crime trends happening inside the city limits.
To date, it shows homicides are down, while felony arrests are up. Robberies are up and so are mental health calls.
"It's not just about the enforcement piece which we are actively involved in," Chief Murphy Paul said. "We arrested more than 4,000 felons...seized 1,800 firearms. This rumor that I heard that we are soft on crime...we are not. We actually arrested more people for felonies and seized more...so we are not soft on crime. We are focusing our efforts on the small group that we have to deal with over and over again."
Despite the dashboard showing that 2023 is starting off on a positive note, there are questions about a lot of high-profile incidents that have occurred recently, like a shootout at a club last month that left more than a dozen hurt. So far, no arrests have been made in that case.
"My detectives are working non-stop to try to identify the person or persons responsible for that incident," Paul said. "They are still working now. That's all I can say right now. It's still an ongoing investigation."
There's also the case of murdered LSU student Allie Rice and toddler Devin Page. Rice was shot and killed on Government Street after leaving a bar. Page was killed as he slept in his bed.
"We are still investigating," Paul said. "I spoke to her father last week. Those are the ones that when you think of Allie and Devin Page...innocent young people taken for no reason. There are no lifestyles that caused that situation. Totally innocent angels taken away from us. In both of those cases, I never stop asking my detectives. We will never stop investigating those cases."
WBRZ asked if those cases have gone cold.
"There are still investigative efforts going on," Paul said.
Paul added that the men and women on the streets are also seeing a new type of weapon — Glock switches. Those can turn a gun into a machine gun, making things more dangerous for the public. He had this word of caution for the public:
"We know there is a lot of toxicity that's circulating," Paul said. "We know there is a lot of misinformation circulating on social media. If you go to our website, www.brpd.com, we post our crime trend analysis, so you can get factual information about crime in the city of Baton Rouge."
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