BATON ROUGE- The Baton Rouge Police Department has released a virtual program for citizens to video chat with a police officer on duty without having to communicate face-to-face amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Chief Murphy Paul demonstrated the new feature with Mayor Sharon Weston Broome on Wednesday, June 24, in a social media post.

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A post shared by Baton Rouge Police Department (@batonrougepolice) on Jun 24, 2020 at 11:52am PDT

Paul says the department wanted to do its part in social distancing, which is why they created the telephone reporting unit.

By using a mobile device equipped with a camera and microphone, a QR code can be scanned to connect with a police officer for a live video call.

For those who do not wish to video call, there is also a voice calling option at (225) 389-2000.

The QR code can be found below.