BATON ROUGE — Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse highlighted his department's massive pay raise at a Tuesday news conference with Mayor-President Sid Edwards, as the two urged more people to apply for BRPD job openings. 

Sgt. Roderick McCoy, BRPD's director of recruiting, said interest in becoming a Baton Rouge police officer jumped 300% since the Metro Council approved a near-40% raise in April.

That raise brought BRPD's starting pay for officers from $41,000 to $58,000—the highest-paid police department in the state, according to Edwards. 

"The one thing we were missing to attract new officers was our pay," Morse said. 

The chief said he is looking for new academy candidates as well as current officers from other departments wanting to make a move. 

The deadline to apply for BRPD's January academy is Monday, Aug. 31, according to Morse, and 67 people have applied so far. He and Edwards expect to add 50 to 60 new officers in 2027.