N.O. City Council unanimously passes guidelines on no-knock warrants, tear gas ban’
24th September 2020 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On September 17, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed resolutions calling on the New Orleans Police Department to create guidelines within 60 days to prevent the use of no-knock search warrants and prohibiting the use of tear gas except in specific life-threatening situations.
Public outrage regarding no-knock warrants increased after plain-clothed Louisville police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson killed 26-year-old African-American emergency med tech Breonna Taylor in her apartment on March 13 after executing a no-knock search warrant. Taylor’s family recently received a $12 million settlement from the city of Louisville and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer indefinitely suspended the use of no-knock warrants on May 29.
The Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) cited the 2012 death of 20-year-old Wendell Allen during a no-knock raid in New Orleans as further proof that local policy need to change. OPPRC Executive Director Sade Dumas was pleased with the City Council’s vote, but implored the NOPD to follow through.
“While City Council members have taken this first step, it’s up to the NOPD to step up to the plate and finalize a transparent policy that serves the people NOPD officers are sworn to protect,” Dumas said in a statement.
New Orleans City Council President Jason Williams said the resolution needed to be passed to protect New Orleanians.
“This is important. It is very necessary…Breonna Taylor was in her bed when this happened. Anything that would allow a person in their bed to have their life taken because of an action that has the color of law is deeply problematic and we must do all that we can to prevent that from happening,” Williams said.
Williams also commended NOPD leadership’s openness to change.
“We have not had to fight NOPD leadership to embrace these reforms. On almost every occasion, they have come to the table with open ears and even suggestions on how to get these things on the books…In other municipalities, there is a fight privately and publicly for any change,” Williams said.
Councilmember Helena Moreno echoed Williams’ praise.
“The chief from that very first phone call was like ‘Let’s lean in. Let’s lean into reform. Let’s figure this out’…I very much appreciate the fact that he understood the urgency of getting something done now,” Moreno said.
Police use of tear gas came under fire in June after the NOPD used it on protestors marching on the Crescent City Connection in the wake of the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis.
The OPPRC issued a statement on September 11 about the tear gas resolution, which included the following passage:
“NOPD cannot be trusted with this military-grade weapon, and no resident ever deserves to be attacked by chemical agents. Banning the use of riot control agents against protestors by law enforcement officers is a small step in the necessary fight to protect the Greater New Orleans Community.”
Councilmember Jay Banks assured citizens that the police would have the ability to use tear gas if there were truly dire circumstances. However, he emphasized that it’s often used unnecessarily.
“If there is a life and death situation, the police have the ability to use this, but something as simple or as benign as crowd control, it should not be used and this will prohibit that,” Banks said.
Williams said the council received questions from concerned citizens about whether or not these resolutions would prevent the police from doing their jobs. He again emphasized that these ordinances were crafted with the cooperation of the NOPD.
“Please believe the NOPD weighed in and they would have let us know if they thought this would in any way limit their ability to do what they need to do…They were at the table along with the community and we’ve been able to craft something that I think will make New Orleans the type of city we want it to be,” Williams said.
Just as with the no-knock warrant resolution, the OPPRC said the NOPD must live up to its end of the bargain and comply with the ordinance.
“The New Orleans Police Department must now work to ensure its updated policy reflects community input and goes beyond the protections in the ordinance. NOPD’s policy development process must be transparent and include the Greater New Orleans community ahead of finalizing the ordinance in order to include necessary amendments if needed,” Dumas said in her statement.
The NOPD released a statement via spokesperson Gary Scheets that read as follows:
“The New Orleans Police Department and City Council are currently working together regarding the resolutions covering no-knock search warrants and prohibiting the use of tear gas except under special circumstances.”
This article originally published in the September 21, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
