BRPD officer placed on administrative leave, target of grand jury investigation

John Rupolo
·2 min read

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Baton Rouge Police Department confirmed in an email that officer Martele Jackson was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a grand jury investigation involving himself and four other officers.

Ironically, in 2023, Jackson was the whistleblower in that 2020 incident that led to the arrest of those four officers.

Jackson is represented by Baton Rouge attorney Ron Haley.

“I would think the important part is that when questioned about this he came forward and was very truthful about the events and how it took place,” said Haley.

Last September, the four officers were put on leave and charged with using excessive force after Jackson answered questions about the 2020 incident. Now, he is being targeted in that same investigation.

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A grand jury was convened this week to determine if formal charges will be brought forward against all five officers.

“And the fact that my client has not been arrested, you know, these allegations have been out here for quite some time and yet no criminal charges have been brought to Mr. Jackson that he will be exonerated by the grand jury,” said Haley.

Jackson was present in September 2020, according to Haley, after a suspect was beaten after he refused to be strip searched at a BRPD precinct. Haley says Jackson’s body camera recorded the incident but was taken by another officer and a story was fabricated saying it was lost.

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“That, that body cam was kept from him by members of BRPD in an effort to, I believe, obstruct justice as to what happened that day,” said Haley.

Haley fell short of saying Jackson was retaliated against after coming forward with information.

“There are very specific instances where he was treated differently and I’ll leave at that,” said Haley.

District Attorney Hillar Moore said, “It’s inappropriate to comment on an ongoing matter especially as to witnesses that may or may not appear and any potential testimony that they may give.”

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