BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Elizabeth Robinson and Murray Tate, once strangers, but now share an unfortunate bond. They lost their sons to gun violence in Baton Rouge three years ago.
“This is a pain that I promise you no mother wants to go through,” said Robinson. “His daughter suffers now. She’s just getting an understanding and grasp of what happened to her father,” said Tate.
They connected through the non-profit Change. They spread the message of putting the guns down.
“We have to learn how to find other resolutions to solve our conflicts,” said Robinson.
Chief Murphy Paul said the feds are helping police target certain areas to fight crime. A big priority on his list is community engagement.
“We can not solve crimes without the communities help,” said Paul.
The chief is reaching out to groups like Change, trying to build trust and make people comfortable coming forward. Part of that the chief said is showing that he’s also holding officers accountable.
“We have a current investigation that is worked by the Baton Rouge Police Department where we’ve arrested several of our narcotic agents who don’t deserve to wear that badge and several have been terminated,” said Paul.
Robinson and Tate applaud the chief for his outreach but say the problem also starts at home.
“Get a hold of your kids. Know what they are doing. Know who they are hanging with. Know if they are beefing with somebody,” said Robinson.
