FROM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

October 20, 2005

NEW ORLEANS POLICE REPUTATION SUFFERS
City aims to revive credibility strained after Hurricane Katrina

Thursday, October 20, 2005; Posted: 8:23 a.m. EDT (12:23 GMT)

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Desertions, allegations of looting and
theft, and the videotaped beating of a retired teacher have contributed
to a growing sense that the New Orleans Police Department is reverting
to its dirty-cop past as the city is trying to persuade residents to
return.

No hard evidence exists of a rise in police misconduct since Hurricane
Katrina hit on August 29.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana said it is
investigating at least 10 brutality complaints filed in the past month
or so. And stories are making the rounds at Uptown coffee houses and
French Quarter bars of overbearing cops abusing their power, of a force
seemingly out of control.

"There's a credibility issue that is manifesting itself in New
Orleans," said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of
Greater New Orleans, a police watchdog group. "Part of that is the
disconnect the public feels with the police department. The reputation
of corruption lingers, and the new problems compound it."

Since the storm, the videotaped beating by police of Robert Davis, 64,
and the roughing up an Associated Press TV producer in the French
Quarter have focused new attention on the department.

Police said Davis was drunk and combative; Davis denied he was drinking
and said he put up no resistance. The U.S. Justice Department is
investigating. (Full story)

Also, 12 New Orleans officers are suspected of looting or condoning
looting at a Wal-Mart in Katrina's aftermath. Authorities are
investigating allegations that police took more than 200 cars,
including 41 new Cadillacs, from a dealership as the storm closed in.
And nearly 250 officers on the 1,450-member force are under
investigation for leaving their posts during the storm.

"People are right on the edge because they think police are hired to
protect them, but that's not what seems to be happening," John Penny,
who teaches criminal justice at Southern University at New Orleans. "I
think there's a high feeling of anxiety in the community."

Josh Clark, who works for a monthly entertainment publication, admitted
he and his girlfriend were out past curfew two weeks after Katrina.
Still, he said, the police reaction seemed extreme.

"They pulled their guns out and pointed them at us," Clark said. "They
wouldn't listen to anything."

Clark said he was finally able to show his press pass to one of the
officers. He said that when the policeman learned he worked for a
publication whose editor was a friend, Clark and his girlfriend were
allowed to leave.

"If they know you, they'll do anything for you," Clark said. "If they
don't, you're in deep doo-doo."

Department defended

Police spokesman Marlon Defillo denied the department is slipping back
into its old habits, saying discipline is being maintained. He said the
department has launched four formal investigations post-Katrina into
police wrongdoing.

Asked about the notion that the department is out of control, Mayor Ray
Nagin said Wednesday: "We're going to have to deal with this perception
as we're going forward."

He acknowledged the department "is a little battered and torn right
now" and said all officers had gone through physical and psychological
evaluations since the storm. He also noted that two officers had
committed suicide.

"They have gone through hell and back," he said.

But Nagin added: "We're going to try to deal with this as best we can.
We are going to infuse the police department with new blood. We're
going to build one of the best departments in the country. That's all
we can do."

The department's reputation for corruption and brutality goes back
generations, but it was solidified in the 1990s when police were
arrested for crimes ranging from shoplifting and bribery to bank
robbery, drug dealing, rape and murder.

Two officers from that period are on death row, one for having a woman
killed after she filed a complaint against him.

Former Police Superintendent Richard Pennington, now Atlanta's chief,
is widely credited with cleaning up the department, purging it of
scores of bad cops and establishing procedures for investigating
complaints. Critics say many of those reforms have fallen into disuse.

"We're back in denial," said civil rights attorney Mary Howell. "If
people are saying there isn't a problem, that's part of the problem."

Since Katrina, there has been widespread suspicion among police
watchdog groups that the misconduct reflects the unprecedented stresses
and demands put on officers by the hurricane, which wiped out many
cops' homes and scattered their families.

Council concern

But even before the hurricane, the City Council was concerned enough
about misconduct that it planned to hold a hearing on the subject.
Katrina forced its cancellation.

It is impossible to say how big the problem is because there has been
so much chaos since the storm hit. Floodwaters wiped out some police
records, and independent agencies that take complaints have only
recently re-established telephone service.

Warren Riley, who took over as superintendent last month, does seem
determined to restore public confidence in the department, said
Goyeneche, who met with Riley this week.

That will be difficult, said Ed White, spokesman for Louisiana Victims
and Citizens Against Crime.

"We're asking people to return to this city and rebuild it and their
lives," White said. "If people don't have confidence in the police
doing their jobs, why would they do that?"

Penny said decisive action is needed to prove to returning residents
they will be protected by police, not terrorized by them.

"We have to have that administrative, managerial cleansing so people
will gain confidence to be in a city that's being protected," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/19/neworleans.police.ap/index.html