I-TEAM: Officer exposed for history of policy violations placed on leave amid internal probe

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A Baton Rouge officer is on leave after the WAFB I-Team exposed his long history of questionable actions on the force, including some that have led to the city-parish paying thousands of dollars in legal settlements.

Officer Troy Lawrence Jr. has been placed on leave after BRPD leaders launched an internal investigation into the officer. Baton Rouge Police spokesman L’Jean McKneely would not say which case resulted in Lawrence Jr. being placed on leave.

The WAFB I-TEAM previously exposed a 2020 complaint against Lawrence Jr. prompted by his aggressive handling of a witness at the scene of a fender bender.

Before that, Lawrence Jr. was accused of crossing the line with a young man at the scene of an accident by cursing at the man and threatening to get violent.

“Hey...If you don’t shut the f*ck up....I’m going to come in there and I’m going to f*ck you up,” Lawrence Jr. is heard telling a man in the vehicle.

Lawrence Jr. is the son of BRPD Deputy Chief Troy Lawrence Sr. The older Lawrence is part of the group that makes discipline recommendations to the chief of police for any officer accused of wrongdoing. In an interview with WAFB, Lawrence Jr.’s boss Chief Murphy Paul said Lawrence Sr. is not involved in his son’s discipline.

Paul also explained that corrective actions were taken to put an end to Lawrence Jr.’s repeated policy violations. That includes placing Lawrence Jr. in BRPD’s internal behavior management program known as EIS, or Early Intervention System.

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