1. Fourth NOPD officer charged in Danziger Bridge shooting and cover up Officer Robert Barrios was charged in a bill of information Friday, which could indicate that – like Michael Lohman, Michael Hunter, and Jeffrey Lehrmann before him – he will plead guilty. Additionally, Marion David Ryder, the civilian who posed as a deputy sheriff […]
Category: Criminal Justice
Posted inCriminal Justice
What's Landrieu's view of federal invovlement in NOPD?
More important than the police superintendent search: Does Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu have an position on federal intervention in the NOPD? Should the Department of Justice give Landrieu’s superintendent a chance to implement changes before deciding whether to pursue a civil-rights lawsuit to require criminal-justice reforms? Or should Landrieu require that his superintendent embrace a consent […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Justice Department confirms consideration of consent decree lawsuit against NOPD
This is precisely why Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu’s transition task force is generating so much attention. Yesterday afternoon, Talking Points Memo caught up with Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, who heads the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. He confirmed the feds are considering suing the NOPD to force reform measures under court order and federal […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Amid gunfire, Landrieu throws the weakest brick of all
Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu was awfully defensive in last week’s press conference about his search for a new police superintendent. Responding to internal criticism from four now-former members of his transition task force, Landrieu accused those who went public with their objections of being divisive. “People in this town have learned how to throw bricks rather […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Landrieu: Those who quit chief search were throwing bricks, not building bridges
Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu reiterated Wednesday the position that his transition team is a private effort not subject to state sunshine laws and that the public has no right to see the names of all 75 applicants for police chief. Commenting on the four members of his 21- search team who quit in frustration over the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
It ain’t hot potato: Landrieu must clutch chief search
Danatus King of the NAACPBaty Landis of Silence is ViolenceGina Womack of Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated ChildrenNorris Henderson of VOTE These are community leaders and important stakeholders in efforts to reform our criminal justice system and repair our broken police department. They were all named to Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu’s 21-member NOPD task force. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
IG releases annual report wrapping up tough year
The Office of Inspector General completed 15 of the 22 investigations it opened in 2009, according to an annual report the office submitted to the city Tuesday. “Most of the investigations concerned relatively minor matters. However, The Crime Surveillance Camera inspection revealed multiple evasions of competitive requirements, and generated suspicions of corruption in contract administration,” […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Facebook rhetoric reveals mindset of beleaguered NOPD officers and supporters
The Police Association of New Orleans held a fund-raiser over the weekend supporting Special Operations unit veterans Capt. Jeff Winn and Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and the police officer union’s rapidly depleting legal defense budget. Winn and Scheuermann are under federal investigation in connection with the death of Henry Glover, whose remains were found in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Adorable: Mitch Landrieu’s first little transparency flap
Monday, Danatus King of the New Orleans NAACP resigned from Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu’s transition task force on crime citing transparency concerns. He is dissatisfied with Landrieu’s decision to keep from the public the names of all but the handful of finalists for police superintendent. My colleague Steve Beatty was thinking this could prove problematic last […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
PANO: Just Desserts
Perhaps you read this lovely article in The Times-Picayune. Over the weekend, the union that represents the NOPD, the Police Association of New Orleans, held a fund-raiser to benefit the legal-defense funds of officers under investigation for violent crimes, conspiracies and cover-ups that occurred in the aftermath of the federal levee failure. The event was […]