Federal monitor says NOPD must step up its efforts
12th October 2015 · 0 Comments
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, the Washington, D.C. based firm serving as federal monitor for the NOPD consent decree, said last week that the embattled police department must step up its efforts to comply with the federally mandated, 492-point blueprint for bringing the NOPD up to federal standards for constitutional policing.
The consent decree, which began in August 2013, entered into its third year of implementation this fall.
“The third year is a critical one for NOPD,” Sheppard Mullin wrote in the report that was released Oct. 5. “The department needs to focus its efforts like never before and accelerate its progress.”
Some of the report’s findings appeared to be contradictory, like its praise for the NOPD’s handling of the case of Officer Daryle Holloway, who was murdered by a handcuffed suspect in June. The suspect was allegedly aided by an NOPD officer and the police chief blasted officers for their collection of evidence at the murder scene. NOPD Supt. Michael Harrison, a friend of the murdered cop, blasted the officers involved in the collection of evidence in the case.
The federal monitor said effective implementation of the NOPD consent decree was impeded by the City of New Orleans’ legal efforts to do away with the consent decree after initially praising its objectives.
The Landrieu administration attempted to convince a federal judge to toss out the NOPD consent decree, arguing that it was tainted by the involvement of several key federal prosecutors who were involved in an online posting scandal that involved several active U.S. Department of Justice cases. The Landrieu administration also argued that the City of New Orleans could not afford to pay for both the NOPD consent decree and an Orleans Parish Prison consent decree.
Those delays, the inability of a 10-member panel of DOJ and CNO officials to select a federal monitor and NOPD resistance to change stalled implementation of the consent decree, Sheppard Mullin said.
“Unfortunately, the time spent during the first year of the consent decree arguing over the need for a consent decree …and wading through a culture of ‘Well, that’s how we do it here’ delayed change and NOPD’s accomplishments,” Sheppard Mullin wrote.
The report implied that noticeable progress has been made since the retirement of NOPD Supt. Ronal Serpas, whose emails revealed that he had warned members of the Landrieu administration about the current NOPD manpower woes for several years but those warnings were mostly ignored or dismissed.
“Over the course of the last year or so, the monitoring team has noticed a palpable transformation in the attitude of NOPD management toward change, the consent decree, and the work of the monitoring team,” Sheppard Mullin wrote in the report. “Rather than pushing back at every turn, most within NOPD with whom we deal seem to have embraced change, reform and improvement. NOPD leadership now seems genuinely committed to reform.”
While indicating it noticed improvements, the report said that there is still work to be done before the NOPD can become compliant with federal standards for constitutional policing.
“One area where NOPD still has room for improvement is the professionalism of some of its officers,: the report said. “To be clear, most the officers and supervisors we come across are professional, helpful and committed to the community they serve. But there remains a subset whose attitude is unbecoming of a modern police department.
“We recognize no large organization will ever rid itself of all unprofessional personnel, but NOPD must continue to work hard to reduce the impact of those officers upon the department. As one professional psychologist recently put it at a meeting with NOPD leadership, ‘it is time for the good kids to take back the schoolyard.’”
The report also said the NOPD still needs to improve its supervision and record-keeping in all eight districts, improve its recruitment and hiring process and come up with improved lesson plans and consistent instruction and curriculum in the police academy.
Some grassroots community organizations were less impressed with the NOPD’s commitment to implementing the consent decree and the federal monitor’s efforts to ensure that the 492-point plan is properly adhered to.
“Community United for Change (CUC) and many other grass-rooted organizations stressed a need for strict compliance when Sheppard Mullin was selected,” W.C. Johnson, co-chair of CUC and host of local cable-access show “OurStory,” told The Louisiana Weekly Thursday. “
“Let us not forget, Sheppard Mullin was the compromised monitor pushed by the Department of Justice. What New Orleans is experiencing is the incompetency of an organization that refuses to partner with legitimate grass-rooted organizations for a complete, focused and timely implementation of an investigation that the people of New Orleans were the architects of. CUC’s ‘People’s Consent Decree’ was the culmination of the people of New Orleans working with the DOJ to dispel any claims of an unfair federal investigation. The consent decree agreed upon by the City and the DOJ was a watered-down version of what the People of New Orleans wanted. Sheppard Mullin’s reluctance in demanding strict compliance to the Consent Decree is either politically motivated or incompetence at its best.”
Either way, the people of New Orleans lose,Johnson said.
A day after the federal monitor’s report was released, the Independent Police Monitor released a public letter to NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison recommending that NOPD implement department-wide de-escalation training. The letter was prompted by the disciplinary hearing for Officer Terrance Saulny. In it, Saulny was terminated for battery on a 15-year-old girl in his custody at Youth Study Center (YSC). YSC is the city’s juvenile detention center. In his hearing, Saulny admitted to having little training on de-escalation or the handling of juveniles.
As part of its review process, OIPM recommended that officers working inside YSC accept the de-escalation training offered to YSC employees. De-escalation is an emerging national best practice that preserves both civilian and officer life and well-being. President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century policing has emphasized de-escalation tactics. Shortly thereafter, the Deputy Police Monitor observed some NOPD officers undergo de-escalation training. This letter is a recommendation that all officers undergo de-escalation training and details possible places for the NOPD to recruit trainers or to train NOPD officers to deliver de-escalation training.
When discussing this latest recommendation, Independent Police Monitor Susan Hutson stated, “We all want our police officers and city residents, especially our children, to be safe. Police use of force presents a risk to civilian and officer safety. De-escalation training is an excellent tool with which to equip our officers, make civilians and officers alike safer, and continue New Orleans’ progress and leadership in police reform.”
Additional reporting by Louisiana Weekly editor Edmund W. Lewis.
This article originally published in the October 12, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
