Thomas Morse Jr. is the 32nd person to serve as chief of the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on Thursday promoted Morse from his previous role as commander of the training services division. The same division produced a previous chief, Carl Dabadie Jr.

Morse scored highest among the 22 candidates who took a civil service exam for the post. He scored a 91, out of 100, while all other finalists had scores were in the 80s.

When he takes over in early 2024, Morse will be the eighth chief since 1991. His recent precessors include:

Greg Phares, who served for 10 years while Tom Ed McHugh was mayor-president;

Pat Englade, in the post four years while Bobby Ray Simpson led the city-parish;

Mayor-President Kip Holden had three police chiefs during his three terms in office — Jeff LeDuff (5.5 years), Charles Mondrick (six months) and DeWayne White (two years);

Dabadie served five years under Holden and Broome.

Murphy Paul served five years under Broome.

City records show Baton Rouge has had 34 chiefs total since 1865: Eddie O. Bauer Jr. served as chief twice between 1964 and 1973, and Howard Kidder was chief twice between 1974 and 1979.