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Mayor Broome holds roundtable discussion with local media to discuss race relations

3 years 9 months 1 week ago Tuesday, June 16 2020 Jun 16, 2020 June 16, 2020 7:00 PM June 16, 2020 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome was joined Tuesday by members of the media for an online discussion of race relations in East Baton Rouge Parish.

Several questions came up about how to create change in the community.

"The question now is after three weeks, how do we move the conversation forward?" WBRZ news anchor Sylvia Weatherspoon said.

"Are there ways to look into what we're putting into mental health issues, or how we're making sure we are investing in North Baton Rouge?" Gerron Jordan of WVLA/WGMB said.

Mayor Broome says over the years, she has created a series of reforms to create a more fair and just community, including creating several policies within the police force.

"We moved into use-of-force policies, de-escalation policies, and body cameras for every officer," Broome said.

But she says the work isn't over. The change will start with government leadership.

"Those changes take place with policies at the local level, state level, and at the federal level," Broome said.

Last week, Mayor Broome established the Commission on Racial Equity and Inclusion group. The group's purpose is to achieve racial equality across East Baton Rouge Parish. Tuesday, she said she's received around 200 applications from citizens who are willing to join.

"That's a snapshot of people of Baton Rouge who say, 'Yes I want to be part of a cause to dismantle racism, and to talk about ideas for transformation when it comes to racial equity and inclusion in our community,'" Broome said.

All agreed that this is a much-needed step toward making a change.

"You can't just do this alone, and that's not just white and black. That's Republican Democrat, Conservative, Liberal. We need to bring all faces to the table," Greg Meriwether of WAFB said.

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