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New task force gets to work
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BATON ROUGE – Friday evening, there will be change to how Baton Rouge Police combat violent crime.
After a violent crime wave this summer, the department announced a ten-officer unit that will focus on violent crime exclusively and patrol dangerous streets when they're not working a crime scene. Officers assigned to the task force come from each of the department's police districts – there are four districts in the city limits.
Officers are scheduled to hit the streets after an afternoon briefing, which WBRZ attended.
At the briefing, we learned a startling statistic — seven out of 10 homicides have been domestic-violence related and the rate of crime is startling.
"We had six homicides in a three-day period last weekend," Interim Chief Jonny Dunnam said.
The task force will patrol high crime areas and respond to calls that may require extra assistance.
"These specific officers have a reputation at the district for already patrolling and being proactive," Dunnam said.
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