In addition to meetings with public officials, Chief Morse also aims to meet more with everyday citizens. He launched a "chat with the chief" program where anyone can make an appointment to sit down and be heard. Additionally, the Baton Rouge Police Department has reactivated their comment section on Facebook so they can hear support and criticisms from the public. 

As for the "gain" aspect of Morse's 100 day plan, he says the department has focused on learning about the needs of the police department in order to increase efficiency. The chief began a top-down review of all policies and procedures at BRPD and announced there will be several changes in the future. 

One of those changes has already been implemented. Officers now have to fill out a form anytime a strip search is conducted. Chief Morse says the manner in which a strip search can be conducted is likely to change soon as well. 

"[It] gives us a little bit more oversight, a little bit more review of when an officer conducts [a strip search]. Very similar to our use of force forms or our vehicle pursuit forms that our officers already have to fill out," Chief Morse said.

The chief said the formation of BRPD's special investigations unit, which launched in March, brings a positive change to the department. 

"It was because of that, that we're able to get some indictments last week or two weeks ago with the district attorney's office against this one group in the city," Chief Morse said.

Through a new 'Proactive Policing' measure funded by the City-Parish, the chief is sending officers to patrol high-crime areas where data shows violence is likely to occur.

"We're going to do our best on the police side as well with special patrols targeting certain areas. Proactive patrols and kind of keeping our foot on the pedal," Chief Morse said.

He also believes intervention with the city's youth is the key to preventing criminal activity. In the coming months, he plans to unveil a youth advisory council.

"I'm looking at high school, college-aged kids who want to be involved who maybe feel like they don't have a seat at the table where the adults are. That they can come and talk about things that are specific to them."

That point brought him to the "give" portion of his plan, which entails connecting more with the community through neighborhood walks every Thursday and social media posts to show what officers experience at work every day.

If residents wish to aid the effort in fighting crime, they can sign up for the Page-Rice camera initiative, or ConnectBlue Program, which installs and grants BRPD access to public-facing cameras at homes and businesses free of cost.

So far this year, BRPD officers have seized 480 firearms, arrested 1,116 people on felony charges and taken 261 juveniles into custody on felony charges. As of the beginning of May, nine juveniles were arrested by BRPD for homicide. During the entirety of 2023, the same number of juvenile homicide arrests were made. 

BATON ROUGE - On Tuesday, federal judges rejected the newly drawn congressional district map, saying Louisiana lawmakers relied too heavily on race when drawing up new boundaries. A bit of a 'Catch 22' considering race was the reason the original map was ordered to be redrawn in the first place.

"Our case is a really good example of a situation where you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't," said Attorney General Liz Murrill.

The boundaries of the 6th District are important when it comes to determining who will be on the ballot this upcoming election cycle.

While the map being disputed right now paves the way for Black Democrat Senator Cleo Fields to win, the old map would likely keep current Republican Congressman Garret Graves.

Murrill says she and Governor Landry will fight for the new map.

"SB8 is the current law and that is the case we are defending right now and we will continue to defend that map and that law. That's my job."

To properly prepare for the November election, the Secretary of State's office has had a hard deadline of May 15 since this all began.

Murill says things will be clear soon.

"We will know that very shortly. Because of this May 15 deadline we're going to know in about two weeks"

Senator Fields, who navigated through a nearly identical ordeal in the '90s, is also positive the Supreme Court will have a decision by that deadline.

"The Supreme Court should take the matter up right away because Louisiana is out there with no plans whatsoever," he said.

Both say there will either be a stay issued by the Supreme Court—which means the current map will be in effect for this election, or not.

945p Wednesday:

Well hello there, storms! Most of the green is ground clutter, but the deep shades of red indicate heavy rain in a narrow region extending from Addis to Geismar.

Evidently, there's enough convergence along a remnant lake breeze boundary to pop a storm! #LAwx pic.twitter.com/fzxNb9rF44

— Malcolm Byron (@mbyronwx) May 2, 2024

ORIGINAL STORY: After reaching 90° for the first time this year, temperatures will scale back as a few disturbances swing through. This will only be temporary - the warmth surges back into the area over the weekend.

Tonight & Tomorrow: Although we keep mostly clear skies for the first few hours of the evening, clouds will be on the increase into Thursday morning. We’ll wake up to cloudy skies early Thursday, with warmer overnight lows. Temperatures will bottom out near 70° in the capital city. A few patches of fog are possible, although a slight southeasterly breeze appears just strong enough to alleviate fog concerns.

More clouds will be with us on Thursday. That will help bring highs back into the middle-80s. A weak disturbance will bring isolated to widely scattered showers and storms to the region. Rain chances increase closer to lunchtime, lasting into the afternoon. It will be a good idea to have the rain gear on hand. Even so, know that it will not be raining at every point. Some spots might even dodge rain entirely.

Up Next: An additional disturbance arrives on Friday, bringing another shot at showers and storms. Rain chances peak during the morning this time. Lingering storms are possible during the afternoon, but this activity will be closely tied to how the morning unfolds. For instance, a stormier morning would stabilize our atmosphere and prevent the afternoon round.

Cloud cover and rain will hold temperatures back for yet another day on Friday. However, all bets are off thereafter. Highs return to the upper-80s over the weekend and nudge upward into the low-90s next week. There will be plenty of humidity to go around, with limited rain chances also.

Get the latest 7-day forecast and real time weather updates HERE.

Watch live news HERE.

-- Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

The Storm Station is here for you, on every platform. Your weather updates can be found on News 2, wbrz.com, and the WBRZ WX App on your Apple or Android device. Follow WBRZ Weather on Facebook and Twitter for even more weather updates while you are on the go.

Watch live newscasts here. 

According to a report by Louisiana State Police, Catahoula Parish deputies were transporting Raymond Huddleston, 46, in a van from the Catahoula Correctional Center to Baton Rouge for a court appearance. 

State Police said deputies stopped around 7 a.m. at a truck stop in St. Francisville when Huddleston began faking a seizure. When deputies opened the back door, they found Huddleston had broke out of his restraints.

Troopers said he attacked the deputies and disarmed one of them. Huddleston jumped into the driver’s seat of the van. As he tried to leave, at least one deputy fire their gun in the van. State Police said Huddleston was shot and killed.  

Two deputies hurt in the ordeal were taken to a hospital for stitches. A second inmate in the van was not involved and was uninjured.

Court records say Huddleston, a registered sex offender, was being transported to Baton Rouge for a Wednesday court appearance in a March 2023 domestic violence case.