BATON ROUGE — One year into his first term, Mayor-President Sid Edwards used his first State of the City address to frame what he sees as early progress and unfinished work on three of East Baton Rouge Parish’s most persistent challenges: crime, blight and homelessness.
“This has been a year of living and learning, of decisions and reactions, of happiness and sadness of many successes, and even a few disappointments,” Edwards said.
WATCH: Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ 2026 State of the City
Crime trends show improvement, but challenges remain
Public safety led the address, with Edwards pointing to significant reductions in both violent and property crime across the parish. According to data released during the speech, East Baton Rouge Parish is on pace to record its lowest number of homicides since 2019, and the second-lowest total since 2016. Overall, homicides are down 13%, while citywide crime has dropped 15%.
Edwards did not sugarcoat the numbers. “80 people being murdered in our parish is not good, he said. “But it’s better.”
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Even as crime trends downward, Baton Rouge continues to face a staffing crisis within its police department. The Baton Rouge Police Department was forced to cancel its January academy class after too few recruits signed up.
One of the primary challenges is pay. A newly hired BRPD officer earns just over $50,000 a year, below the regional average and less than what neighboring law enforcement agencies offer.
Last month, Baton Rouge voters rejected Mayor-President Sid Edwards’ proposed budget changes, which were designed in part to raise police salaries.
Blight Fight | “We’re just getting started”
From there, the mayor turned to what he described as a historic year for blight demolition and enforcement efforts.
Edwards noted that demolitions of blighted structures have quadrupled, jumping from 49 in 2024 to 200 in 2025. It’s the largest number known in the parish’s history. Spending followed suit, increasing tenfold from $140,000 to $1.5 million.
“Are we finished? No.” Edwards said. “We’re just getting started. It’s only the first quarter. The final score has not been decided. We have laid a strong foundation.”
Edwards pointed to a recent trip to Detroit as a source of inspiration, pointing to that city as a model for what’s possible in Baton Rouge.
Once plagued by high crime, widespread blight and economic collapse, Detroit has since removed nearly 50,000 blighted properties, driven crime to its lowest level since the 1960s, and attracted billions in investment.
The visit, the mayor-president said, reinforced his belief that Baton Rouge can follow a similar path.
“If they can do it, so can we,” he said, adding that Baton Rouge is in a stronger position today than Detroit was when it began its turnaround. “Our future is bright. The state of our city is good.”
Homelessness efforts expected to expand sharply
Homelessness was another major focus of Edwards’ address, with the mayor-president emphasized a sharp shift from 2024.
In 2025, the city partnered with more than a dozen organizations, including The Grove, the East Baton Rouge Homeless Student Program, Community Builders’ COMPASS program, YWCA, St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities, HOPE Ministries, the Christian Outreach Center, and Volunteers of America South-Central Louisiana.
“We successfully moved 97 people off the streets through a combination of residential drug treatment and our way home program, which reunites individuals with their families and connects them to support services,” Edwards shared. “That’s 97 of God’s children that got off of the street.”
Since April, outreach teams have cleaned and restored 32 encampment sites and made contact with 433 individuals. Since April, 97 people have been helped, with 54 referred to residential drug treatment, 33 reunited with family members through the Way Home bus program, and dozens more received mental health referrals or emergency housing prevention services.
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Edwards said his administration created a key partnership with The Grove Medical to offer rehabilitation services aimed at transitioning individuals from the streets into treatment and eventually employment, at no cost to taxpayers.
The city also collaborated with Keep Tiger Town Beautiful, providing Department of Public Works resources to support cleanup efforts. The city also launched joint outreach teams made up of staff from the Mayor’s Office, Baton Rouge Police Department, and The Grove Medical.
Edwards also noted that the city-parish began enforcing restrictions on panhandling in public rights of way.
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“That is the best question anyone’s asked so far.”
Towards the end of the meeting a student stood to ask a question, drawing a smile from the mayor.
The question: What has been the biggest challenge in going from coaching to politics?
Edwards reflected on his years as a coach, describing teams made up of players from different races, religions and backgrounds. He talked about how, despite their differences, they were able to unite by a single goal.
“We weren’t black or white or anything else,” he said. “We were green. One green.” That lesson, he said, shaped how he approaches leadership, even in a political enfironment where consensus is harder to achieve.
“I’m going to keep bringing people together,” Edwards said, adding that he believes in loving people, even those who oppose him.
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