Justice Department investigates Louisiana State Police over allegedly violent practices

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Louisiana State Police to determine whether it uses “excessive force and whether it engages in racially discriminatory policing,” the agency said Thursday.

In the broad civil rights investigation, the department will review “LSP policies, training, supervision, and force investigations, as well as LSP’s systems of accountability, including misconduct complaint intake, investigation, review, disposition, and discipline,” the Justice Department said.

The move comes three years after white troopers were shown on body camera beating, stunning and dragging Ronald Greene during his arrest on a rural roadside in May 2019, The Associated Press reported. Greene died, and police said it was due to a car crash.

Greene did die after a police chase, but one colleague came out publicly in 2021 and said he was murdered, and police covered it up. The trooper, Carl Cavalier, was fired for allegedly violating department policy.

It took more than two years for the body-cam footage to be released. That footage showed Greene repeatedly apologizing after leading troopers on the chase, wailing and calling out for help. But it didn’t stop the officers from handcuffing him, tasing him, beating him and then dragging him face-down across the pavement.

“I’m your brother! I’m scared! I’m scared!” Greene told the officers while they hit him with a stun gun before he was even out of his car.

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No one has been charged, even after a series of federal and state investigations, The Associated Press said.

Last September an AP investigation revealed that Greene’s arrest was just one of more than a dozen violent cases over the past decade in which troopers and bosses looked the other way regarding beatings, dodged blame and culpability, and thwarted efforts to expose the misconduct. Current and former troopers described a culture of impunity, nepotism and racism.

Black leaders had been advocating for such a “pattern-or-practice” investigation for months. Louisiana’s own statistics revealed that 67% of state police uses of force in recent years had been against Black people, even though they make up just 33% of the state’s population.

“Protecting the civil rights of all Americans and building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve are among the Justice Department’s most important responsibilities,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the investigation. “This investigation, like all of our pattern or practice investigations, will seek to promote the transparency, accountability, and public trust that is essential to public safety.”

Gov. John Bel Edwards, Col. Lamar Davis, and Deputy General Counsel Gail Holland have all been informed and have pledged to cooperate with the investigation, the Justice Department said. The investigation will also include interviews with community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with the state police, the department said.

Edwards is about to testify before a bipartisan panel of state legislators about Greene’s death.

“Every American, regardless of race, has the right to constitutional policing,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information provided to us, we find significant justification to investigate whether Louisiana State Police engages in excessive force and engages in racially discriminatory policing against Black residents and other people of color. The Justice Department stands ready to use every tool in our arsenal to confront allegations of misconduct and to ensure legitimacy during encounters with law enforcement.”