Numerous local law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction that is partially or wholly within the city limits of Baton Rouge.

For the time period from July 30, 1818 to May 11, 1819, Pierre Gentin, Charles Everard, and A. York received a salary from the Corporation of the Town of Baton Rouge for their roles as police officers.

[8] Between 1817 and 1859, law enforcement in Baton Rouge was overseen by a town constable, an elected official responsible for maintaining order.

Prior to the academy’s creation, BRPD officers received training from Louisiana State University (LSU).

[20][21][22] Due to the violence and arrests that erupted at these protests, local organizing groups and the Louisiana branch of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Baton Route Police Department for violating the First Amendment rights of protesting individuals.

[26] The family additionally alleged Varnado herself was strip- and body-cavity-searched, and that one of her other children was put into a holding cell and beaten so hard that he was knocked out by BRPD officer Lorenzo Coleman.

[26] The incidents are alleged to have taken place at the so-called "BRAVE Cave," an interrogation facility attached to a police substation informally named after the BRPD Street Crimes Unit, and which rose to national attention following separate lawsuits filed by Jeremy Lee and Ternell Brown alleging abuse by BRPD officers at the facility.

[27][28] The FBI subsequently opened a civil rights investigation into the facility,[29] and as of October 2024, 10 separate lawsuits involving the "BRAVE Cave" have been filed.