East Baton Rouge Parish will receive more than $63 million from the Department of Justice over the next three years as one of four cities selected for the Model Cities Initiative.
The parish was chosen, along with Jackson, Mississippi, Jacksonville, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri, because of its “severe and persistent violent crime problem,” U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference Wednesday (Nov. 4) that was attended by local and state leaders.
The grant is meant for public safety projects, such as police staffing and programs to reduce recidivism. It’s also a cooperative agreement between the city-parish and the federal government, giving the DOJ a say in how the money is spent — unlike other federal grants.
City leaders call this a major win for Baton Rouge.
“I, as your mayor-president, cannot be more excited. I am fired up. This is huge for Baton Rouge,” said Mayor-President Sid Edwards.
In a boon for the city, the grant funding can also cover overtime pay or technology needs. Both are major expenses in the general fund, which would free up money in the city-parish’s budget to be allocated elsewhere as leaders work through a budget crisis.
Complicating budget issues further, newly re-elected District Attorney Hillar Moore is suing the parish for more funding for his office. While he did receive an increase in the mayor’s proposed budget, it was only a fraction of what he requested.
Some of the money from the Model Cities Initiative can help stem the flow.
“ We will be able to use some of that to help Hiller and his gang out, for sure,” Edwards said.
The grant funding doesn’t fix all the city-parish’s problems, though. The money is what’s known as a “one shot,” meaning while it will be allocated over three years once it's gone, it's gone.
“ We just gotta always tell ourselves that money is a three-year plan and it's not recurring funds,” Edwards said.
As for other uses, parish and federal officials say it is too early to comment on specifics.
Immigration activists worry about DOJ ties
The program has roots in two federal law enforcement surges in Washington, D.C., and Memphis earlier this year and last year. While the headlines of those events were a surge of boots on the ground, they also set up infrastructure for locals to cooperate with federal agencies.
Blanche said there won’t be boots on the ground in Baton Rouge, but did say “law enforcement surges” are expected.
“ There's accountability in the Model Cities Initiative. Accountability on (the U.S. government) to make sure that we provide the funds and federal law enforcement,” Blanche said. “That necessarily includes efforts along the way at surges or at focusing on one of the 10 most violent parts of the city with the highest crime rates and then really going in there.”
This has immigration activists in East Baton Rouge worried. They see the initiative as a way to open the door for immigration enforcement agencies.
“The model cities is unapologetically about [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” Rev. Alexis Anderson, a prolific community advocate, said. “ICE is already here. They are literally in the jail. Every single person that gets arrested and detained in this parish is subject to detainment by ICE.”
There is no requirement for grant recipients to do more with immigration enforcement than what is already required by federal law — save for a prohibition on providing financial support to pay for immigration court proceedings.
Blanche bucked the idea that the Model Cities Initiative is an immigration-focused project.
“ Trying to make this about immigration is missing the point,” he said.
Still, advocates are worried an uptick in detentions could happen. In Memphis, Tennessee, the agency created to facilitate the partnership between local and federal law enforcement has led to more traffic stops ending in detention, according to reporting from WPLN.
Many Baton Rouge officials across the city-parish government have said they do not agree with past upticks in immigration enforcement — like when officials signed an agreement with the non-immigration enforcement arm of ICE.
Police Chief TJ Morse said when ICE reached out to BRPD about signing on as other law enforcement agencies have around the state, he declined.
“We don’t have anything here for y’all,” Morse said he told ICE. “The immigrants are not the ones doing violent crime in Baton Rouge.”
The agreement is still much maligned by advocates. And it is one of the major reasons they cite a lack of trust in Edwards’ administration to keep residents protected from immigration enforcement.
The parish’s final plans for the grant are expected in January, with metro council approval needed before anything can begin.