District Attorney seeking list of confidential names released by mayor's office

BATON ROUGE – District Attorney Hillar Moore went door-to-door to area news agencies, asking reporters to return items released by city hall that contained confidential information dealing with kids who sought BRAVE services in an effort to turn their lives around.

The list – nine names – were of youngsters who were listed as “clients” of BRAVE. Moore said the names are so secret, he is not allowed to know the names of those who are involved in the street crime-fighting program. Moore did not elaborate on the kids' role in the program.

WBRZ never published the list and agreed to return the list in exchange for a redacted copy.

Moore said his office found out about the “mistake” around lunchtime Wednesday, more than a day after Mayor Sharon Weston Broome's office released a trove of documents related to her administration's attempt to counter claims it was giving supporters contracts with the BRAVE program.

The BRAVE program recently lost its funding and the contracts it awarded to some people have come under the microscope recently.

Moore was worried about the eyes that could see the names released with the documents, people who were looking to get out of a life of crime.

“These kids, they're tough to get to, and those that come forward, you want to make sure you protect them in any way that you can. We promise that that's what we are going to do. It's something we take very seriously… it's why I'm… scrambling… to get the [copies of the list],” Moore told WBRZ.

The mayor's office said it did not want to comment.

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