Baton Rouge, La. – January 4, 2023 – Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome delivered her 2023 State of the City Address today at the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge. Mayor Broome highlighted improvements for a number of important issues like crime, drainage and the economy.

“East Baton Rouge Parish has an unprecedented opportunity to shape our community for future generations. The secret to our success will be every government agency, community partner, and business pulling in the same direction,” said Mayor Broome. 

East Baton Rouge Parish saw a 23% reduction in homicides in 2022, with a 14% reduction in non-fatal shootings inside the City of Baton Rouge. Mayor Broome credits this reduction to an intensive collaborative effort throughout 2022 between law enforcement and community members to fight violence at its roots. She is hiring more officers and raising their wages with a 13% pay increase since 2021 and $10,000 to $15,000 recruitment & retention bonus for 2023 police academy graduates.

Mayor Broome is also focused on continued drainage efforts in the aftermath of the 2016 Flood to make East Baton Rouge more resilient for future emergencies. More than 23 million pounds of debris has been removed from 86 miles of drainageways in the past 18 months.

Baton Rouge also continues to see record-breaking improvements for our economy: 

• EBR currently has its lowest unemployment rate in history of 2.7%. 
• There have been 2,200 new businesses since the beginning of 2020. 
• The region currently has more than 58,000 higher education students.

Read more about the State of the City at brla.gov/soc2023.