Grigsby unveils anticrime campaign

Published Oct 26, 2012 at 10:30 am (Updated Oct 26, 2012)

Businessman and activist Lane Grigsby has made a "six-figure investment" for his "Fight, Not Fear" campaign, calling for the unification of the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office and the Baton Rouge Police Department, according to spokesman Jay Connaughton. Grigsby today unveiled the campaign, which will launch a two-week blitz of television commercials and also be disseminated through print and a heavy online presence. "He feels very strongly about protecting this city, and he knows there are answers to solve the crime problem," Connaughton said. "Everyone in the Baton Rouge area will hear our message." The home page of the website, FightNotFear.com, declares, "Our leaders are failing us. Our police department has been between 50 and 70 officers short for years." Connaughton says the message is more important than election advertising. "The bigger issue is, crime needs to be addressed by all of our leaders," Connaughton says. "It's time for our leaders to stand up and study our issues." Grigsby advocates a merger of the two law-enforcement agencies as a way to save money and also lower the crime rate, pointing to other metro areas with a single agency. The campaign's research says police unification in Charlotte, N.C., resulted in a 45% decrease in crime, and that Louisville, Ky., and Las Vegas also benefited from the strategy. Grigsby's efforts have been tried before in Baton Rouge by others over the years, which you can read about here. —Matt Randolph