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.

Watch live newscasts here

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."

Watch live newscasts here

Those documents allege Mandy Miller carried out the theft from July 2018 until July 2022.

The report notes, "Miller as a Deputy Sheriff Traffic Clerk, would take payments from traffic fines and in turn manipulated/altered the computerized accounting records of the West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office. By doing this Miller was able to conceal the transactions."

WBRZ obtained exclusive video of Miller turning herself in Friday. Our cameras captured a high-ranking WBRSO employee escorting her inside. That employee was named the chief of staff by Sheriff Mike Cazes effective Jan. 30, 2023.

"There will be no direct contact with the Sheriff on any matters dealing with the West Baton Rouge Sheriff Department," the email notes. It was sent out department-wide and raises questions about what Cazes is doing.

Residents in town are frustrated with how things are being run at the office.

"I don't like it," one resident said. "I think it was wrong what happened. A lot of people get favoritism in this town."

Booking documents released to the WBRZ Investigative Unit four days after Miller's arrest show she was booked with felony theft, malfeasance, injuring public records, forgery, computer tampering and another obscure charge. That charge is R.S: 42:1461 A: Public Property, Duties of Officials, Employees and Custodians.

"Favoritism, favoritism," one resident said. "Everyone's got their get-out-of-jail-free cards. The people that don't have that, they the ones that don't get out of any thing. They go straight to the slammer."

Booking records show Miller posted a $75,000 property bond. She was instructed to get permission before she goes out of town.

Sources said an investigation was launched by WBRSO Friday after WBRZ's report that showed video of Miller turning herself in. Sources said WBRSO is more concerned about finding leaks in their department than doing the right thing.

Watch live newscasts here

After WBRZ published video of Miller turning herself in to the jail, sources said Kevin Deval, Dale Simoneaux, and Sheriff Mike Cazes launched a full investigation grilling numerous detectives for hours — well into the night — about how WBRZ obtained the information about Miller's arrest.

"The ink hadn't even dried on her paperwork and she was gone," a WBRSO employee told WBRZ. "It stinks to high heaven. Nothing is going to happen with this."

Another one echoed those sentiments.

"She's a criminal," they said. "She should have been treated as such. When you break the law, you break the law, and everyone should be treated the same."

Miller worked for the sheriff's office for decades and was kept on the payroll for months, even after confessing to stealing the money, sources said. Miller was paid $72,000 annually to process traffic ticket payments. She admitted to stealing tens of thousands of dollars.

WBRZ was there as Miller arrived around 2:15 p.m. Friday and received special treatment, allowed to hang out at the Sheriff's Training Center for about an hour. Around 3:15 pm, she arrived at the jail and walked inside. Sources said everything was prearranged for her, and despite being booked her name never showed up on any jail rosters available for the public to view.

WBRZ has asked Sheriff Mike Cazes for information each day we've done a story. Our requests for information have been ignored.

Jail workers told WBRZ Monday, they could not get us any information pertaining to Miller.

The Clerk of Court's office had not received Miller's file yet. The judge's office that set the bond said Miller was booked on forgery, felony theft, and malfeasance charges. Her bond was set at $75,000.

No public records were available tied to anything involving Miller's arrest, raising more speculation that she's still receiving special treatment.

Other sources said inside the jail, high-up employees at the sheriff's office locked the file so other employees could not gain access to it and view it.