2 Louisiana officers shown with ‘blackface’ in 1993 photo

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A photo of two white Baton Rouge police officers wearing dark makeup has prompted an apology by the city’s police chief.

The Advocate reports the photo was taken before a 1993 undercover drug sting in a predominantly black community that the police chief at the time recalled as “very successful.” Still, current Chief Murphy Paul issued an apology Monday after the photo surfaced.

The photo was posted online over the weekend by The Rouge Collection. It shows two officers, Crimestoppers coordinator Lt. Don Stone and now-retired police Capt. Frankie Caruso, posing above a caption reading “Soul Brothers.”

In a statement, Paul says blackface photographs are inappropriate then and now. He apologized on the department’s behalf to city residents and to anyone who may have been offended by the picture.

___

Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com