BATON ROUGE - Disciplinary hearings for officers linked to the Baton Rouge Police Department's Street Crimes unit will be held next month after a state district judge dissolved a temporary restraining order that put the cases on hold.

WBRZ reported that the arrests of the officers stemmed from an incident in 2020 when a person was strip searched, beaten and shocked with a taser. Officers Jesse Barcelona, Todd Thomas and Doug Chutz were all arrested and charged with malfeasance in office.

Disciplinary hearings for the three were scheduled prior to criminal hearings. The Baton Rouge police union criticized the decision to hold hearings so quickly, saying officers often can remain on administrative leave until further along in the legal process.

"Ample time should be given for the process to remain undamaged by haste," the union wrote in a statement last week.

Lawyers for the officers and BRPD told District Judge Tarvald Smith on Wednesday that they had met and resolved a disagreement over how quickly the policemen had been set for disciplinary hearings. They told Smith the hearings would be conducted Jan. 12 about a month after they were initially scheduled.

Deputy Chief Myron Daniels, one of five candidates to replace Paul, was in Smith's courtroom for Wednesday's hearing and said afterward the agency was pleased that the hearings would go forward. 

It's expected that a new chief will be in place by the time the disciplinary cases come up.