BATON ROUGE - Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges was at the Baton Rouge Rotary Club on Wednesday afternoon addressing crime and community outreach.

Hodges said the agency's motto of "courage, loyalty, and service" guides state police in their efforts to not only combat crime but build trust between law enforcement and the community through outreach.

"Offering educational programs like crime prevention, traffic safety, drug awareness, and emergency preparedness allows us to inform and empower residents like yourself to keep our community safe," Hodges said.

He said that after establishing a specialized division like Troop NOLA and seeing its success so far he hopes to spread a similar game plan to the capital region.

"We make weekly daily arrests. I think we are truly making a difference. Crime is down about 40 percent, and that is a direct result of law enforcement working together in support of the community," Hodges said.

In August, Gov. Jeff Landry asked state police to investigate the Department of Corrections following a series of WBRZ Investigative Unit reports on the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center. When asked about the ongoing investigation, he declined to provide any specifics.

He said he is hopeful that the public will continue to build their trust with law enforcement.

"People are coming back to law enforcement and that's a great thing for us because the public is trusting us again. We've made changes and outreach, we've done everything we can and I think the defund the police movement is probably a thing of the past. It was a failed project and we know that everything starts with public safety," Hodges said.