Senior Baton Rouge officer on leave after son arrested in ‘brave cave’ case

(BATON ROUGE, La.) — A Baton Rouge police deputy chief was placed on leave a week after his son, an officer with the department, was arrested for allegedly tasing and handcuffing a suspect, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Troy Lawrence Sr. was placed on administrative leave while the department looks into the use of force claims against the BRPD, the source said.

The police department faces several lawsuits over the treatment of detainees, including at a now-shuttered police warehouse that officers allegedly called the “brave cave,” according to complaints made against the department.

The FBI announced over the weekend they are investigating the Baton Rouge Police Department following allegations that some officers “abused their authority.”

The New Orleans FBI Field Office, the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana have opened the probe, with investigators “reviewing the matter for potential federal violations,” the FBI New Orleans said in a statement on Friday, while urging anyone with information on the case to contact them.

The department’s police chief reported the allegations of the “brave cave” to the FBI, a source familiar with the investigation said Tuesday.

In a statement to ABC News, the Baton Rouge Police Department said they are “committed to addressing these troubling accusations and have initiated administrative and criminal investigations.”

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